


Transformers The Last Knight: Rewritten

by ForPrimusSake07



Category: Transformers (Bay Movies), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Retelling, Rewrite
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:01:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 21,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24811978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForPrimusSake07/pseuds/ForPrimusSake07
Summary: Three years after the Battle of Hong Kong, Optimus Prime has not yet returned to Earth, still on his quest to search for the mysterious Creators. Back on Earth, Cade Yeager and his ragtag group of Autobots are on the run from a government bent on destroying all Transformers, while also searching for the reborn Decepticon leader Galvatron, who disappeared following Hong Kong.Meanwhile, on Cybertron, the legacy of an ancient enemy lives on and threatens to awaken a dark secret lying beneath the Earth.(This story is a complete rewrite of Transformers: The Last Knight, removing many major elements to the official film, including Quintessa, Merlin's Staff, Anthony Hopkins, British Megan Fox and that whole 'secret history of Transformers' thing. New elements have been added, and some existing elements have been changed too.)
Comments: 23
Kudos: 24





	1. From Galvatron to Megatron

_**One Month After Battle of Hong Kong** _

A police car drove off-road on the outskirts of Hong Kong, slowly making its way out of the city and toward a small mountainous region. It drove on, continuing by slowly as though not wanting to be seen by anybody. It continued on for what seemed to be a good while before reaching an abandoned wreckage; a strange grey, alien spacecraft, or at least a part of it, lay among mounds of dried dirt. The ship looked as though it had been sat there for a while. The police car stopped and began to change, its parts shifting to different places as arms and legs made themselves clearly present as a head came out from the top, the car's bonnet moving to become the torso of a robot. The robot began to walk toward the spacecraft and stepped inside through a hole within the side. 

The inside of the ship desolate and empty, with several large cages having been busted open by something strong. He looked around, taking in the obvious fact that nobody was around. " _Strange...that radio chatter said to come to the abandoned shipwreck, and this is the only one around here. Am I being punked?_ " He asked himself as he turned around to leave, but was stopped by the sound of something approaching him. 

" _Punked? No, old friend. Far from it._ " A growling, familiar voice called out as the robot turned around to see who it was. A taller robot, grey in color with a gaping orange hole in its chest. " _It has been a long time, Barricade._ " 

Barricade took a step back to look at who was standing in front of him. " _...Lord Megatron?_ " He asked, surprised to see his leader again. " _I thought you were killed in Chicago.._ " He spoke, trailing off a little as he processed the fact that Megatron was standing before him once again, after the titanic battle in Chicago so many years ago. 

Megatron laughed off Barricade's words. " _No, you fool! While you were blinded by weak humans, my mind survived Prime's feeble efforts to destroy me._ " He stepped further out of the shadows, looking out the ship toward the city of Hong Kong. " _I manipulated the humans into creating a new body and Decepticon army, until Prime foiled me once again!_ " He slammed his fist into a nearby wall as he looked to his comrade. " _I survived, and with my rebirth, I am more powerful than ever before!_ " He stopped to take a pause. " _And yet, I find myself repulsed by this...man-made shell that they call Galvatron! If I am to restart the Decepticons and take the revenge I seek, I must become pure once more!_ " 

" _Is that why we are here, Lord Mega- er, Galvatron?_ " Barricade asked, confused. " _This ship is empty, what use could it have?_ " Galvatron stared down Barricade and took the Decepticon toward a dark statue next to the cages. The statue resembled a Cybertronian knight, a large sword held in its two hands. " _A...statue, Lord Galvatron?_ " 

Galvatron laughed as he wrenched the statue from its resting place, moving it under his arm with a swift motion. " _Not just a statue, Barricade...a vessel. With which I shall transfer this feeble body, and regain my purity._ " Galvatron began to walk out of the ship, statue in hand. " _Within the city, there is an abandoned facility with the resources necessary to transfer my body into this husk. That is why you are here, Barricade._ " He turned to his comrade again as the two transformed and drove off toward the city. 

_**Abandoned KSI Facility, Hong Kong** _

Galvatron and Barricade made it into the old KSI facility and transformed once they were out of the public view. Galvatron moved to a series of cables and advanced machinery, attaching them to the statue and then to himself, checking to make sure the machines were still operational. Barricade looked around the facility and saw the melted down remains of several Transformers, possibly even his former Decepticon comrades. He made no comment, but clenched his fists to conceal the anger he felt toward whichever humans decided to melt down his fellow Decepticons to create an army of drones. He understood perfectly why Galvatron was so eager to leave his body and make a new one. " _Are you ready, Lord Galvatron?_ " He turned to his leader once he was strapped into the machinery correctly. 

" _Of course I'm ready, Barricade. Time to leave this life behind, and begin anew._ " Galvatron gave Barricade an approving nod to begin the body transfer. Barricade fired up the machines and stepped back as they jolted to life and began to whir loudly, sparking with electricity as the wires linking Galvatron and the statue. " _Farewell, Galvatron._ " He spoke to himself as he began to light up with electrical energy, yelling as his body began to shift into a cloud of Transformium, as was the case with all KSI drone transformations. The Transformium began to swirl around and enter the Cybertronian statue next to Galvatron, moving around and filling up the hollow inside of the statue and modifying its appearance. Joints began to appear in its arms and legs to allow for movement, its right arm began to change and transform so a Fusion Cannon was mounted on top of it. A face began to appear behind the mask of the statue as the machines transferring Galvatron to the statue sparked and blew up, stopping the process and leaving Galvatron's body as nothing more than a Transformium wireframe base that quickly fell to the ground. The statue fell to the ground as well, lying motionless. 

" _Lord Galvatron?_ " Barricade walked back over, nudging the Cybertronian statue to check for movement. It shifted a little, as it began to rise up on its two feet, opening its newly acquired red eyes and surveying its surroundings. " _..Galvatron?_ " 

The statue looked down at its hands, before closing his eyes and laughing to himself. " _Galvatron is no more._ " It spoke as it broke into a fit of maniacal laughter. " _The transfer was a success! I am whole!_ " The statue laughed louder as it raised its right arm into the air, yelling triumphantly. " _I AM MEGATRON!!!_ " 


	2. Three Years Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cade Yeager and Bumblebee head to downtown Chicago, meeting a young girl and her Autobot guardian as the TRF make their move.

_**Downtown Chicago** _

A black-and-yellow Camaro pulled up beside a barbed wire fence on the outskirts of the city. Its driver door opened and out came Cade Yeager, a former inventor and seemingly the only human ally for the Autobots. He opened the back door to the Camaro and took out a strange, alien looking weapon. " _Okay, Bee. Drive around back, wait for my signal, alright?_ " Cade patted the hood as the car made some beeping noises and began to drive itself around the corner. Cade looked toward the ruined buildings in front of him and began to climb through a hole in the fence. 

Within the ruins of the downtown area, a group of kids were walking through the ruins of a building. " _Remind me again why we came out here?_ " One of the kids, a tall boy wearing glasses, asked as they journeyed through. 

" _'Cuz we all wanted to see some dead robots._ " A shorter, chubbier kid replied, turning back to look at his friend. " _Unless you're too much of a little bitch._ " He moved his arms to his sides and pretended to bawk like a chicken, a sign of mockery. 

The tall kid straightened himself out. " _I'm not being a bitch! I'm just saying...this place is off-limits, what if we get arrested?_ " The shorter kid shrugged, not caring about the possible risk. 

" _So? We're kids, they'll just be all like 'uh, well, uh, don't go it again, uh, okay kiddo?' They'll let us get away with anything._ " He turned away and continued to go through the abandoned building, stepping over some shards of glass and leaving through a broken window. The other kids all followed him out, one at a time. 

When they get outside, they were in dead robot heaven. A treasure trove of discarded Decepticon bodies lay broken in the street, arms, legs, torsos, heads and weapons were scattered all over the place. Nothing small enough for any of the kids to stuff in their pockets or bags and take home with them, of course. Still, they would make for some perfect photo opportunities, something that would help them skyrocket to fame. " _Hey yo man, go check this out!_ " One of the kids called over his friends, and pointed toward what looked like a piece off a giant Cybertronian creature, something like a tentacle, with a giant buzzsaw coming out the end of it. It looked as though it had been sliced clean off whoever its owner was. " _Let's get a photo with this shit._ " He handed over his phone to the tall kid with the glasses, who held it out straight in front of him to take the photo. 

The photo was taken rather quickly, and the phone was handed back to its original owner. " _Dude, this is gonna go all over Instagram!_ " The kid wore a cheek-to-cheek grin as he began to upload the photo to his social media page. They were so focused with earning the bragging rights of standing next to a dead Transformer piece, that they were oblivious to the sound of something large walking over them. " _Oh, crap!_ " The kid with the phone screamed as he pointed up to their unwelcome visitor, a two-legged mech with a machine gun barrel and green laser pointer aimed straight at the kids. A logo on the side of the mech, visible to the kids, read 'Transformers Reaction Force'. They were in trouble now. 

" _Halt! This is the TRF. You are in a restricted area. Step away from nearby alien material and wait for apprehension by TRF personnel._ " A voice boomed from the mech as the kids in front of it stepped away from the Transformer part they were photographing. The mech kept a careful watch over the kids, who were too scared of the risk that it might just open fire on them to move any more than two steps. The mech stood still, too focused on the trespassers to notice somebody else moving on top of a train wreckage and grabbing its attention. 

" _HEY!_ " A young girl's voice yelled out at the mech, placing a backpack on the ground and pulling out a large, strange bottle and something from her pocket. The mech swung itself around and began to approach her, repeating the same announcement it spoke to the group of kids just moments ago. The girl then dropped the smaller pocket object into the bottle and threw it at the mech's machine gun barrel, landing within the barrel and quickly causing the mech to explode and collapse into a ruined building. The girl jumped down from the wreckage and ran over to the group of kids. " _Come on, we got to get out of here!_ " She began to run off again, but the other kids still were not moving. She turned back around and rolled her eyes. " _Move your asses!_ " They finally moved after that, running after her as she led them into another abandoned building. They ran quickly, hearing the footsteps of another TRF mech approaching from their left side. 

The mech's footsteps grew closer as it moved to the nearest exit point of the building. " _Halt! You are trespassing on a restricted area! Surrender quietly or we will open fire!_ " The voice from the mech boomed as it aimed its machine gun toward the group. From behind, the ground began to shift and move as a pile of rubble stood on its hind legs, drawing a shotgun-like weapon from its arm and blasting the mech three times, sending it crashing to the ground. " _Halt! You are entering on a tres-tres..._ " The voice coming from the mech glitched and faded out as sparks flew from its body. 

_**Somewhere Outside Downtown Chicago** _

A group of black armored vehicles were all parked around a small gazebo, with a few computers and other equipment kept under its shade. " _Sir, come look at this._ " A soldier called out to his commander, who ran over quickly. " _We just lost two Sentinels in the downtown restricted area, we managed to salvage this image from one of them._ " He pulled up an image on his computer monitor; the group of kids caught by the first Sentinel. 

" _Kids? Shit..._ " The leader of the group ran his hand over his face. " _Any active Decepticons in the area?_ " He asked as he saw a red dot appear on a map on the second monitor. " _What's that?_ " 

The soldier zoomed in on the map on the monitors. " _Energon detector going off, close to where we lost one of the Sentinels._ " He looked to his commander, who was already beginning to pack things into one of the vehicles. " _Cannot confirm Decepticon activity just yet._ " 

The commander looked toward a pair of other soldiers around some more computer systems. " _Get a drone in the air! Locate target, and send more Sentinels! Wait for my orders, those kids are our priority._ " The other soldiers nodded and began to issue commands through their computers, as a specialized TRF drone flew overhead and into the city. 

_**Downtown Chicago** _

The kids stood by the collapsed Sentinel as the rubble-robot looked toward them. " _Izzy, we need to leave. Come on._ " He spoke as she nodded, turning to the group of boys she rescued. 

" _Wait, what? Who the hell are you anyway, and what is that?_ " The short kid of the group asked, pointing to both of them. The girl turned around and gave him a mean stare. She rolled her eyes. 

" _Well, if you really want to know, we just saved your lives. I'm Izzy, that's Canopy. Now come on, we'll get you out of here._ " She gave them a slight nod as she led the group a little closer to Canopy. As they walked, a TRF drone flew over them, taking photographic images of them and sending them to the squad stationed outside the city. 

The drone flew toward the edge of the restricted area. Its remote pilot took a look at the images sent to the monitor in front of him. " _Confirmed Cybertronian activity near the kids. Cannot confirm as Decepticon._ " The pilot looked to his commander. " _Should we open fire?_ " 

" _No, kids are too close. Can't risk them getting caught in the crossfire._ " The commander told them. " _Continue monitoring._ " He instructed, as the pilot nodded. 

Back with Izzy and Canopy, he was still trying to get the kids to leave. " _Hurry, we must leave. That was a TRF drone._ " He pointed to the sky as the drone was beginning to fly back around the area they were in. Izzy and the boys began to move toward Canopy, but stopped when they heard the sound of a vehicle beginning to head toward them. " _Wait, stay back._ " Canopy held out his hand and looked out for something to jump out from one of the many abandoned buildings. As he surveyed the area, a police car burst out from the building behind the kids and transformed, revealing itself to be Barricade. Barricade pulled out his own weapon and aimed it toward the kids, waving it around to scare them and knock them back to the ground. " _Izzy! Get down!_ " Canopy called out as he pulled out his own weapon and fired some shots at Barricade. 

" _Oh, you want to fight, Autobot?_ " Barricade stood up and raised his own weapon, until he heard the sound of the TRF drone overhead. " _Scrap...enjoy your humans!_ " Barricade turned to run and crashed himself through another building, transforming and retreating, leaving Canopy and the kids behind. The TRF drone flew past, recording Canopy holding out his gun in the kids' direction and sending them down to the small command center stationed outside the city. 

" _Sir, target has weapon drawn. Hostile intent displayed._ " The drone's remote pilot told his commander, who immediately got up and went straight to the monitor displaying the footage. 

The commander looked slightly horrified by the situation and went straight to issuing orders. " _Shit...you're cleared to fire, we're moving out. Everyone load up!_ " He moved to one of their armored vehicles and hopped into it. " _Let's get those kids out of there._ " 

The drone flying over the restricted area quickly moved to respond to orders, firing two missiles toward Canopy, the first of which quickly collided with the Autobot and sent him flying back with a fiery explosion, burying itself deep into his chest and sending metal and splatters of Energon flying. " _Canopy!!_ " Izzy screamed as the second missile slammed itself into Canopy's body, only damaging him further and practically guaranteeing his demise. The drone flew past, ending the attack and leaving Izzy to run over to Canopy. " _Canopy, get up! Canopy!_ " She cried out, tears falling from her face as she watched as Canopy crawled over toward her. 

He was weakened heavily, coughing out green Energon. " _Can't...you must....leave._ " His voice was weak and his eyes were blinking on and off, and he knew that he wasn't going to make it out alive. Canopy raised one of his hands weakly and shakily toward Izzy, using a finger to wipe away her tears. " _...Thank you....friend..._ " Canopy gave her a weak smile before his hand and head dropped down, his eyes shutting off for good. As Canopy lay dead, Izzy broke down crying, holding her face in her hands as the other boys stood by watching, trying to process what was happening. They looked to see another Sentinel beginning to approach them, and began moving toward Izzy and Canopy's body. 

However, they were once again surprised as a black-and-yellow Camaro jumped out from another building, transformed, and leapt onto the Sentinel, turning one of its arms into a cannon and shooting through the armor casing on top of it, blowing it up. It jumped down and threw the Sentinel's body down, before speaking with a radio voice. " _I'm tired of people messin' with me!_ " The robot, the famed Autobot Bumblebee, ran over to the kids, and noticed Canopy's body laying on the ground. " _Aw, no..._ " 

Cade emerged soon after Bumblebee and ran over to him as well. " _Hey, Bee! Any sign of Galvatron?_ " He asked as Bee shook his head, before pointing at Canopy. " _Crap. Let's get these kids out of here._ " Cade ran over to Izzy, who tried her best not to acknowledge him as she mourned for Canopy. " _Hey, hey...come on, it isn't safe for you here._ " He looked between Izzy and Canopy. " _Look, I'm sorry about your friend, but he wouldn't want you to die too. You'll be safe with me._ " He took her hand gently and pulled her away from Canopy, looking toward the group of boys. " _Okay, Chunky, you get your friends out of here, this is the big-boy zone._ " Cade waved off the boys as they groaned a bit and began to walk off. As Cade took Izzy away from Canopy and toward Bumblebee, they quickly found themselves surrounded by TRF armored vehicles and soldiers rushing out with guns. 

The TRF commander walked out ahead of his soldiers. " _Well, well...the famous Cade Yeager. Finally caught you._ " He laughed a little as he harshly patted Cade's shoulder. He looked toward Izzy. " _You not running off with all your friends?_ " He asked, pointing to where the boys had walked away from the scene. 

Through tears, Izzy glared up at the commander. " _...Fuck you._ " She looked away from him after saying that, though he simply scoffed and turned his attention back to Cade. He walked around them, nudging Cade away from Izzy and getting him to go onto his knees. Bumblebee was surrounded by TRF Sentinels, and had a barrage of anti-Transformer weapons pointed at him if he tried anything. 

" _Just make this easy on us, Yeager. Tell us where you and your friends hide, and we can all be done._ " The commander nudged Cade's shoulder with his gun. " _You can go back to your daughter, we can go back to our lives, and this whole silly thing can be over._ "

Cade scoffed too and shook his head, looking up at the commander. " _See, that's the thing, I don't work like that._ " He raised up his hands, and moved his arms into a small shrug. " _I don't sell out friends._ " 

The commander sighed and knelt down to Cade's level. " _Friends? No no, Yeager, they aren't our friends. They're dangerous aliens, who brought their war to our planet when we never asked for it._ " He leaned closer to Cade. " _Or did you forget Chicago?_ " He asked as Cade simply spat in his face, prompting a small distant chuckle from Izzy. He motioned for another soldier to bring Izzy over as the sound of something coming toward them. Something heavy. The TRF were taken back when a large vehicle breached through a building, transforming into a large, bearded Transformer with a whole stash of weapons attached to him. In his hands was a rather large Gatling gun. 

" _Aw yeah, Hound's in the house! You meatbags better step back if you know what's good for you!_ " The large Transformer waved his gun around, causing everyone to step back. Cade took the distraction as an opportunity to tackle the TRF commander and pin him to the ground, punching him in the face multiple times. Bumblebee drew his own weapons and opened fire on the TRF Sentinels, destroying them easily. Hound fired his machine gun at the Sentinels too, only making the job easier for Bumblebee to jump between them and bring them down. The scene got frantic, with Cade running to Izzy and shielding her from the weapons firing all around them. A shootout was away to be carried out before another TRF commander entered the scene to de-escalate the conflict. 

" _Alright, everyone stand down!_ " He yelled, as his men backed away from everything. He looked up to Bumblebee. " _Hey, Bee, come on, you know we don't want it this way!_ " He tried to reason with Bumblebee, who simply threw down a Sentinel and stared. " _Look, I know its all bullshit, but it's a new world order now, these guys are calling the shots!_ " He looked around at all the Autobots and Cade. " _I don't want it to be like this, you gotta believe me._ " 

Izzy pushed aside Cade's arm and stared up at the second commander. " _If you don't want it this way, why did you kill my friend?!_ " She yelled, pointing to Canopy. The commander hesitated a moment, as though he wasn't actually aware that Canopy had been killed. " _Well?!_ " 

The commander was a little surprised by Izzy and her response. Clearly there was something that he was not told about. " _We...we picked up a Decepticon displaying hostile intent toward children, we shot it do-_ " 

" _No!!_ " Izzy cut him off. " _You let the Decepticon run off, you shot my friend! He was an Autobot, just trying to keep us safe, and you killed him!_ " Her anger turned back to the sadness she had displayed earlier, holding onto Cade's arm as she sobbed quietly. " _He was all I had left..._ " Her emotions got to the second commander, who took a step back to take in what was going on. Did he really not know that there was a Decepticon in the area. 

Cade pulled Izzy back a little and looked at the second commander. " _And wanna know something else? While you're all busting your asses trying to bring me in, Megatron's still alive._ " The commander took a step back, speechless, as his eyes widened with shock. " _Yeah. Hong Kong, that was him...so maybe you and your boys should get your shit together, and go after him instead._ " 

The second commander took a minute to take in what Cade had told him before he looked down to his comrade, lying on the ground with a bloody nose and busted lip. " _Okay, okay...Yeager, get the girl, take the Autobots and get out of here...before I change my mind._ " 

Cade was taken back a little by the order, but decided it would be the best course of action, as opposed to escalating the conflict further and maybe leading to more innocent Bots dying. Bumblebee and Hound left without saying another word, transforming into their vehicular forms and allowing Cade and Izzy to get inside. The first commander got up from the ground and wiped the blood away from his face. " _What the hell was that, Lennox?_ " He asked, as Lennox walked over to him. " _Yeager's our highest-profile target, and you just let him walk off. Who's side are you on here?_ " He gave Lennox a push as he walked back to the vehicles behind them. 

Lennox sighed, watching as his comrade gave a silent order, and a soldier shot a tracking device onto Bumblebee as he drove away. " _I don't know what side to be on..._ " He spoke to himself as he too walked over to the TRF vehicles. All the while, Barricade watched from a safe distance before entering his vehicle mode himself and leaving. 

_**Later That Night...** _

Barricade continued to drive around the restricted area of downtown Chicago, reaching a tall, abandoned apartment complex and pulling into the parking space within. He transformed into his robot mode and shined two headlights ahead of him, their lights focused on the knightly, dark figure of the reborn Megatron. " _Barricade reporting, Lord Megatron._ " 

His leader growled and held his hand over his eyes. " _Get that out of my face! Were you able to get the location of Prime out of the human?_ " He asked, standing up and taking in Barricade's silence. 

" _...No, Lord Megatron. He was under Autobot guard, and the TRF had him surroun-_ " Barricade was cut off as his leader grabbed his head and flung him across the room. 

" _You COWARD!!_ " Megatron yelled, approaching Barricade and pressing him hard against the wall. " _I'm growing sick of your petty survival tactics, Barricade! You are a Decepticon! You do NOT fail the mission to preserve your own spark!!_ " Megatron growled as he pulled a sword from his back, and pressed it against Barricade's throat. " _You better convince me of your continued value, Barricade. Quickly._ " 

Barricade's eyes grew wide with fear, as he tried to gather his words. " _L-Lord Megatron...I-I know how to get to Prime! I can get your plans back on course!_ " He spoke quickly, prompting Megatron to place the sword on his back again. " _The TRF placed a tracking device on one of the Autobots...they can lead us to Prime._ " He told his leader, who smirked and laughed quietly to himself as the two Decepticons looked up to the night sky. 


	3. Cybertron

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Optimus Prime crash-lands on his homeworld and meets the apprentice of an ancient enemy.

" _I am Optimus Prime, and I send this message to my Creators. Leave planet Earth alone, because I am coming, for you._ " 

Optimus Prime's message repeated endlessly as he drifted slowly through space. Three years ago, he left in search of the beings who created his kind, and hired a bounty hunter, Lockdown, to capture him and a group of ancient Knights. Somewhere near Jupiter, Optimus powered down and has been floating lifelessly in space ever since. Clasped in one of Optimus Prime's hands was the Seed, a Cybertronian device that could mold any surface into Transformium, the elemental metal that all Cybertronians are made of. He had planned to take the Seed back to his Creators when he confronted them, but obviously he hasn't quite made it to his destination. Strapped to Optimus' back were two legendary weapons he had obtained from Lockdown's ship; the Sword of Judgement and the Sentinel Shield. 

As Optimus continued to float through space, passing near Saturn's orbit, a much larger planet began to make itself known. Fragmented and broken, the planet's surface was held together by metallic cables of various sizes, and Optimus began to be pulled into the larger planet's orbit, burning up a little upon making it into the planet's atmosphere. " _Optimus Prime....entering...Cybertron..._ " The Autobot leader's navigation systems spoke out in his voice as he crashed onto the planet's surface, within one of the lower chambers. Dust and pieces of metal flew as Optimus landed, though everything became still again within a few moments. Slowly, Optimus got up to his feet, pulling his sword out from his back and using it to help him push himself up. He opened his eyes and looked around at the environment around him. " _Cybertron...?_ " Optimus stood upright, and looked around at the different chunks of Cybertron's surface dangling around him. He seemed confused, shocked at the current state of the planet. When he last saw Cybertron, it had been ravaged by war on the other side of the universe. He last laid his eyes on his homeworld when he was forced to leave the planet in search of the AllSpark. Now that he was finally back, after so long, Optimus was not sure what to think of it. He turned around to notice a faint blue light coming from a nearby tunnel, taking him further into Cybertron. The first light that he had seen on Cybertron since the time before the war. He approached the tunnel and began to go inside. 

He traveled along the tunnel, heading closer and closer toward the source of the light, which grew brighter the further that Optimus walked toward it. Eventually he entered a large, empty room, with a blue light flickering slightly on the floor, indicating a power source for something. The only other notable thing in the room was the series of statues on the walls. Optimus counted nine statues in total, with eight of them representing the Primes who preceded him. Starting from Prima, the original Prime, and the Fallen, who had turned on his brothers and tried to destroy Earth with the Star Harvester. The statues that Optimus recognized ended with Sentinel Prime, his former mentor, who had betrayed the Autobots and tried to bring Cybertron to Earth during the Battle of Chicago. The ninth statue, however, he did not recognize. It looked a bit like the Fallen, but with a more spiky appearance, and different colored eyes too. As Optimus leaned in closer to inspect, the statue jumped to life and grabbed Optimus by the arm, slinging him across the floor. 

" _YOU!!_ " The statue roared out as a small blade sprung out from the statue's wrist as he slammed it into the ground, Optimus rolling out of the way and forcing the statue down by slamming its knees with his shield. Optimus got up onto his feet and drew his sword, ready for a fight. The statue freed itself from the floor and stood up too. 

Optimus stared. " _Who are you?_ " He pointed his sword at the enemy in front of him. " _And why are you in the Chamber of the Primes?_ " He demanded. 

The statue growled and pointed toward the statues of the Primes. " _The Primes were fools! They turned on my master, and you destroyed him!_ " It charged at Optimus again, swinging its blade toward his arms, but Optimus swiftly dodged and countered with a swing from his own sword. After a couple swings, the statue finally caught on and managed to clash with Optimus' sword. He was able to catch the sword and tore it out of Optimus' grip, flinging it to the ground. " _But the work continues!_ " He delivered a swift punch to Optimus' gut before throwing him to the ground as well. 

Optimus groaned with pain as his opponent kicked him down again. " _Who...are you...and who is your master...?_ He asked, weakly, as his enemy stood above him, staring down with an orange glow in his eyes. 

" _I...am Makeshift, and I served with the Fallen before he was cast away._ " Makeshift growled as his eyes turned blue, scanning Optimus' body. " _The work will continue, and you will bear witness..._ " Makeshift paused as he began to transform, his body changing shape and color to become identical with Optimus, though with a slightly duller appearance. His voice module began to change too, to match that of Optimus. " _...as the Earth unleashes its true force, to destroy Cybertron, and your precious humans._ " He grinned as he turned Optimus over and seized the Sentinel Shield for himself, walking over to the sword and picking that up as well. 

Optimus tried to get himself back into the fight, but Makeshift suddenly ran over and slugged Optimus across the face with his own shield, sending him reeling back to the ground. Makeshift began to walk away once again as Optimus crawled his way to the center of the room. " _...You'll fail, just like your master did._ " He looked toward Makeshift. " _My Autobots...will see through your disguise._ " 

Makeshift laughed after Optimus finished speaking, turning around to face the Autobot leader. " _Oh, I doubt that. I have a reputation for being able to keep up appearances._ " He chuckled to himself as he walked away, leaving Optimus alone in the chamber. 

" _Must...warn...the Autobots..._ " Optimus spoke weakly as everything grew blurry around him, and he dropped to the floor, the world around him going dark once again. 


	4. Junkyard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cade, Izzy, Bumblebee and Hound return to the junkyard base where the remaining Autobots have taken refuge.

Following the intense standoff between the TRF and Cade, things weren't at their calmest as the Autobots drove away from the city of Chicago. Sat within Bumblebee, Cade Yeager looked to his right and gently nudged an emotionally uneasy Izzy. " _Hey, sorry about your friend._ " He tried to comfort her, but it wasn't really getting anywhere. She ignored him and slumped herself a little further into her seat. 

" _...I thought you were meant to be this legend, this guy who saves Transformers._ " Her voice was quiet, and she was still wiping tears from her cheek. " _You were too late to save Canopy..._ " Izzy looked over at Cade. " _Why were you even there..?_ " She asked him. Izzy noticed that Cade's eyes were gazing down at the flooring of Bumblebee's interior. 

Cade took a deep breath. " _Me and Bee were looking for Galvatron, we heard from somewhere that he might have been hanging around Chicago._ " He looked at the road ahead of her. " _Look, I'm not really a legend, kid._ " He looked at her again. " _I'm just a guy trying to do the right thing when the world turns their back on the Autobots. As much as I want to save everyone, I can't._ " He looks down again as Izzy returns to looking out of the side window. She began to sit back up straight as the two Autobots began to approach a large junkyard. A large shadow was cast over the two Autobots as a giant, robotic, two-headed Pteranodon screeched into the air, landing on top of a building on top of the junkyard. To the side of Bumblebee, Izzy saw two robot dinosaurs, a Tyrannosaurus and a Spinosaurus, running side-by-side and snapping at each other as they ran. On Cade's side of the car, there was a red-colored robot balancing himself on a giant sword and a small alien ship with a green robot piloting it around the junkyard. A metal Triceratops was also appearing to sleep among some car piles while a metal Velociraptor was standing near, appearing to be intent on bothering the larger dinosaur but unsure whether or not to risk it. The two Autobots stopped driving and Bumblebee opened his doors to allow Cade and Izzy to get out, before he and Hound transformed into their robot modes. Cade smiled and held his arms wide, turning to Izzy. " _Welcome home, Izzy!_ " 

Bumblebee waved toward the two-headed Pteranodon, which flew down to him immediately and stood in front of the yellow Autobot and allowed him to pet its two heads. It chirped lightly when Bumblebee interacted with it before it transformed into its own robot mode, a giant Knight-like figure which towered over Bumblebee and proceeded to pet the comparatively smaller Autobot on the head. As that was happening, the green Autobot flying around on the ship jumped off his small craft and walked over to where the others were. " _Hey, Cade! Find any sign of Galvatron, then?_ " He asked, with Cade shaking his head in response. " _I thought as much. That's what you get for bringing the yellow bugger with you, you need real leadership out there, Cade._ " He laughed as Bumblebee turned away from his larger friend and marched right over to his green comrade.

" _Why don't you shut up, before I do some damage you won't walk away from?_ " Bumblebee switched between different radio channels to convey his anger as he shoved his fellow Autobot with a light push. 

The green Autobot laughed and got himself right in front of Bumblebee. " _You will never be Optimus Prime._ " He smirked as Bumblebee very quickly lost his temper and punched his friend in the face, as the two proceeded to throw down with one another. They threw each other to the ground and began to quickly exchange punches, much to the shock of Izzy and the frustration of Cade. 

" _So, that's Crosshairs._ " Cade quickly pointed his arm toward the two wrestling Autobots. " _He's gonna come across as a complete asshole at first, but you'll warm up to him. Not that he won't be an asshole anymore, but..._ " Cade stopped talking and laughed a little to himself. " _Nevermind, he'll always be a complete asshole._ " He began to guide Izzy toward the red robot balancing himself on his sword. " _This is Drift. Compare him to everyone else, he's the sanest Autobot here, but he can be a little...well, an asshole as well._ " He gave a small smile, which Izzy returned, as Drift turned his head to face the two humans. 

He jumped off of his sword and landed on his feet, sheathing the sword in his back and looking down at them. " _Now, Cade, I am in control of my anger and separate from the anger around me. Peace isn't the absence of chaos, it is calmness of heart in spite of the chaos._ " Drift spoke and nodded his head slightly as he began to take notice of a very small Pteranodon robot flying around his head and snapping its beak near his eyes. " _If you'll excuse me, I'm going to kill this flying rat!!_ " He grew increasingly angry as he drew his sword and, going completely against his previous statement, swung it toward the small robot in an attempt to end its life. Thankfully, it was fast enough to evade Drift's attacks and even mocked him by snapping in his face some more. 

Cade and Izzy laughed as Drift failed to eradicate the small flying robot continuously bugging him. He guided Izzy away from them, and looked up to the large Knight, pointing up at it. " _These guys are the Dinobots, they don't talk much but we were able to guess their names from their growling. This one is Strafe, the T-Rex is Grimlock, the spiky one is Scorn, the sleeping one over there is Slug, and the smaller one is Slash._ " When Cade finished, Slash looked up at him and let out a light screech before he ran off toward Hound, who had begun stripping down a car to feed it to him. " _This is our family, Izzy._ " 

She smiled and looked around at all the Autobots and Dinobots inside of the junkyard, before the small flying robot that had been pestering Drift flew over and perched on Izzy's shoulder, chirping away. " _Who are these little guys?_ " 

" _Oh, they're baby Dinobots. I kind of made them using scrap parts. This little guy is Pterry._ " Cade smiled and gently used his finger to pet Pterry. " _There's two other ones in the main house. I'll show you._ " He guided her once again toward the main building that Strafe had previously perched himself on. Once inside, Izzy got to see the cobbled-together home of Cade Yeager. Everything looked as though it had been taken from the junkyard and simply patched up to look a little better. Pterry flew off of Izzy's shoulder and went straight to the fridge, opening it up and grabbing a bottle of beer and flying it over to Cade, who took it with his hand. " _Thanks, buddy._ " He smiled and looked at Pterry. " _Fetch Izzy a drink too, non-alcoholic._ " The small pterosaur nodded and flew back to the fridge, having to go inside of it to grab a bottle of Pepsi and handing it over to Izzy, who smiled and nodded as Pterry flew out of the room. 

Cade smiled a little before opening his beer and drinking from it, his expression not as happy as he was when showing Izzy around the junkyard. He watched as Izzy walked toward an empty seat in front of Cade and looked at him. " _So, how did this all start? You and the Autobots?_ " She asked as Cade took another drink from his beer, taking a deep breath afterward and placing his hand on his forehead as he looked at Izzy again. 

" _I bought a truck. I needed the money for rent, and to put my daughter through college. Turns out that truck was Optimus Prime, and next thing I know, I'm on the run from the government, I lost a good friend..._ " Cade trailed off slightly, remembering that his old friend Lucas had died soon after they met Optimus. " _We met the Autobots, we went to China for a bit...met the Dinobots, saved the day. A millionaire helped my daughter to get into college, and I stayed with the Autobots. He gave us this junkyard, and that was all he could do._ " He shook his head as he looked at a window to see Hound knocking and holding a small phone. 

He passed the phone over to Cade. " _Callin' time! I'm bouncing signals from Venezuela, France and Hong Kong. You got 30 seconds with her, chief._ " Cade nodded as Hound walked away to once again satisfy Slash's desire to eat junk metal. Izzy watched from her seat as Cade put the phone to his ear to hear his daughter on the other end. 

" _Hey, Dad. Um, I know you only get a little bit of time, so I'll skip small talk. I'm graduating, in a few days. Wish you could be here for it._ " She took a small pause. " _Just stay safe, and stay alive, okay? I love-_ " The call abruptly ended and Cade put down the phone, once again putting his hands over his face. He almost seemed as though he was wiping a tear away from his face. 

Cade stepped outside, leaving Izzy alone in the room with two smaller dinosaur robots, a baby T-Rex and a baby Triceratops. She smiled a little and picked the Triceratops up, struggling a little due to how heavy it was. She petted it a little and looked around, thinking about all that has happened to her recently. She lost Canopy, but now she was in a new home, with a new and bigger family. Though, seeing Cade's reaction to speaking to his daughter, she knew that there was more to this family than she first though. Maybe Cade took her along with him so she could fill in a void that his daughter had left behind. She thought about it for a second, placing the young dinosaur she had on the floor and going outside to follow Cade. 

He looked at her. " _Sorry...it's just..._ " He sighed a little, glancing around before looking at her. " _My little girl's graduating soon. Her big day, and I'm not allowed to be there. I show up, we both get arrested._ " He spoke, trying to contain a bit of a sob, before his attention was taken to two vehicles approaching them. One of them was a sleek Lamborghini, the other was some sort of truck with a load of junk attached to it. " _What the hell.._?" He began to walk forward as the Lamborghini transformed into a robot. 

" _Bonjour, mes amies!_ " The Autobot held out his arms and took a small bow. " _J'ai amene un novuel ami pour notre equipage!_ " He looked around and noticed Izzy standing near Cade, and bent down to introduce himself. " _Bonjour, novuel ami. Je suis Hot Rod, ravi de vous rencontrer._ " He gave a small wave, which Izzy returned quickly. Hot Rod's attention was quickly switched back to Cade. 

" _Hot Rod, we spoke about this, you can't bring Daytrader in here. He's not our friend._ " He spoke loudly as he pointed to Daytrader as he transformed into his robot mode. " _He's a useless jackass who never delivers the right shit._ " 

Daytrader walked over to Cade as the argument heated up. " _Hey, words hurt, Cade. I got some good stuff today!_ " He reached into the large bag he carried on his bag and took out a few objects. " _I found Starscream's head in Buffalo, so there's a nice collectible, I got a new sword for Drift, found some guns lying around in Chicago..._ " He continued to toss down the items he was listing off as he noticed Hound approaching. 

" _Well have you got Lockdown's ship for us?_ " He asked, waving one of his guns at Daytrader. " _You promised us the ship a year ago, still waiting on it._ " 

Daytrader rolled his eyes and threw up his arms in a huff. " _Just calm yourself, Hound. I'll get the ship when I can get it without people trying to shoot me!_ " He put his arms back down and looked to Hot Rod. " _You told me that he had mellowed out!_ " 

Hot Rod shrugged his shoulders. " _Non non non, je pense que tu m'as mal entendu. J'ai dit qu'il s'etait peut-etre adouci. Un peu._ " He took a small pause to shoot Daytrader a glare. " _Ne m'entraine pas la-dedans._ " 

Cade sighed into his hands for a while and looked up. " _Look, Daytrader, just go and...take an oil bath, or...something. Okay?_ " He asked as Daytrader hesitantly nodded and transformed back into his vehicle mode and driving away. Cade then turned his attention to Izzy once again. " _Anyway...that was Hot Rod. He landed in France about a year ago, somebody shot him in the neck and now he can only talk French. And there was Daytrader, he visits sometimes. He means well, I guess, but...hard to tolerate him._ " 

" _You can say that again, Cade._ " Hound chimed in, smiling. " _If he stayed behind for 10 seconds longer, I would have deep-sixed him._ " 

" _By all means, deep-six him._ " Drift called out from his meditation spot. The chunkier Autobot chuckled a little as he walked away, Slash trailing close behind. 

Cade smiled too and went back toward his small house, grabbing another beer from the fridge. Izzy moved to join him, taking in the sights of her new family before doing so. 


	5. Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Optimus Prime meets a legendary warrior and learns of a terrible truth. Meanwhile, Lennox meets with his general to discuss his meeting with Cade.

_**Cybertron** _

_**Historical Archive, Iacon** _

Optimus Prime opened his eyes slowly, a small ringing going off in his audio receptors as he began looking around. He wasn't in the Chamber of the Primes anymore, that much was immediately apparent to him. Makeshift was nowhere to be seen either, something that was not boding well for Optimus. As he continued to look around, a series of loud thumps echoed through the room. Optimus remained still on the floor, but a large knight-like figure loomed over him, staring down with glowing green eyes. As the figure stared down at him, even louder thuds began to echo and an even larger figure loomed over Prime, laying its hand on the smaller knight. " _Slog, leave us. Go get the others._ " The knight nodded and left the room. The larger figure took hold of Optimus' hand and pulled him onto his feet. " _Optimus Prime, it is time that we talked._ "

Optimus looked up at the figure that towered over him. " _Where...Where is Makeshift? Who are you?_ " He demanded and stepped aside from the larger figure. The other figure looked down at him. 

" _My name is Dragonstorm, the last Knight of Primus._ " He looked away from Optimus and upward toward the ceiling of the room they were in. " _Makeshift took an escape pod and fled. My students tried to go after him, but they found you and brought you here._ " Dragonstorm held up one of his arms and pointed toward a Cybertronian mural, depicting two giant Transformers locked in battle. " _I have taken you to the historical archives of Iacon, so you can understand the true nature of the situation._ " He began to guide Optimus along a hallway containing more murals depicting the two Transformers in combat. " _In the beginning of our history, there was Primus, the creator of life, and Unicron, the bringer of chaos. The two battled for millennia, and over time, Cybertron was formed as an extension of Primus' body. Unicron also began to grow, and began creating multiple avatars of his will to destroy Primus._ " Dragonstorm stopped by a mural of a large figure, Primus, commanding a group of knight-like Transformers into battle with Unicron's avatars, one of them bearing a great resemblance to him. " _In response, Primus created the first Prime, Prima, who in turn created 12 Knights of Primus...my brothers...to fight Unicron. The battle was a disaster...my brothers were slaughtered, and somehow I lived._ " 

" _...My deepest sympathies.._ " Optimus spoke quietly and looked up at Dragonstorm. 

" _Thank you._ " Dragonstorm gave a small smile before continuing, moving onto a mural with six other Transformers joining Prima's side. " _The battle was not over yet, and Primus created the other six Primes to aid Prima. The battle was long and intense, but eventually the Primes won, and Unicron was expelled._ " He smiled faintly once again as he walked to yet another mural. This one depicted one of the Primes, whom Optimus recognized as The Fallen, standing apart from the others, a purple cloud surrounding him as his eyes were a red a color. " _However, one of the Primes, Megatronus, was consumed by Unicron's darkness. He betrayed his brothers, and fled to the planet that you call Earth._ " They continued to walk, but one mural in particular caught Optimus' eye. It showed the Earth, with six horns peaking out from six of the Earth's continents, with what appeared to be a silhouette of Unicron within the Earth. 

" _Dragonstorm, what is this mural?_ " Optimus asked him and pointed toward it. Dragonstorm looked over to the mural as well. " _This...this isn't correct, is it?_ " 

Dragonstorm laid his hand on the mural, staring closely. " _After the Primes expelled Unicron, he ended up on the far side of the universe. Due to his large size, gravity began to pull rock toward him, and he eventually became the core of a new planet._ " He took a pause and turned his attention to Optimus. " _The planet that you call Earth._ " Optimus' eyes widened with horror as he stared at the mural. All this time, the planet that he had called home, the planet that houses the people he had sworn to defend...was in fact the long-lost ancient enemy of all Cybertronians. 

" _No, it...it cannot be..._ " 

" _And yet, Optimus, it is._ " Dragonstorm gently pushed Optimus away from the mural and to the end of the hallway, where four Cybertronian knights, one of which was previously called Slog, were standing in wait. " _Cybertron is on the move, Primus senses that Unicron is preparing to make his return. We must be prepared as well._ " He turned around to face Optimus. " _I understand if you may have questions, and I will answer them._ " He held out his hand. " _Allow me to take you to your training course, and I will answer any questions you may have._ " 

Optimus hesitated for a moment, his mind still processing the news that Earth's core was made up of the Bringer of Chaos, Unicron. However, he knew that he would be getting the answers he came to Cybertron for, no matter what, and he took Dragonstorm's hand. 

_**Earth** _

_**Hidden TRF/CIA** _ **_Facility_ **

Lennox walked into the large, empty room. All that was in there was a small table, with two men sitting either side of it. One of them was General Morshower, one of the founding figures of the former human-Autobot alliance, NEST. The other was simply a CIA agent. The two men looked at Lennox with stern expressions, though he already knew exactly what they were going to talk with him about. He was prepared for a grilling, so he slumped himself into a chair. 

" _I think you already know why you're here._ " Morshower began, not taking his eyes off Lennox for a split second. He rubbed his head with his hand for a bit before letting out a small sigh of frustration. " _You know how much we're risking, embedding you within TRF? You can't just go around smacking your commanding officers, Lennox. Show some discipline, for God's sake!_ " He intensified his stare, but that did not seem to phase Lennox. 

" _I know, I know...but the TRF, Santos...these guys...they don't get it. Our history, with Bumblebee and the Autobots._ " Lennox sighed too, and watched as the CIA agent with them pulled out a small recording device. 

Morshower looked at the device too. " _Well, CIA drones spotted Decepticon Barricade within the restricted area of Chicago. He must have been close to the one that TRF took down._ " 

" _That wasn't a Decepticon. It was an Autobot, it was guarding a little girl..._ " Lennox quickly buried his face in his hands. " _God dammit..._ " He muttered, feeling a wave of guilt washing over him as he remembered the teary eyes of Izzy, the girl that the Autobot was guarding, as well as frustration with the newfound knowledge that there was, indeed, a Decepticon in the area. 

" _...Right._ " Morshower seemed dismissive of Lennox's emotions, choosing to move on to advance the conversation. " _Anyways, we had a drone tail Barricade, and we found that he's been keeping some...interesting, company._ " Morshower gestured for the agent to play the recording, with a voice that proved hauntingly familiar to Lennox playing through it. 

" _We must act quickly, Barricade, if the humans are going to lead us to Prime, as you believe they will! I will have my revenge, and the Decepticons shall rise again!_ " 

Lennox's hands began to shake a little as he heard the voice. " _Shit, Yeager was right..._ " 

Morshower nodded with some concern, sharing at least some of Lennox's fear. " _The voice we all hear in our nightmares...Megatron._ " 

" _Still waiting for authentication._ " The CIA agent chimed in. 

" _No, it's him!_ " Lennox responded quickly. " _...Yeager mentioned that Megatron was back...he thinks that we should be spending our time trying to find him._ " Lennox leaned back in his seat. " _And you know what, I agree. I'm still in touch with Epps, and our old NEST friends. I say we go grab them, meet up with Yeager and the Autobots, and go hunt Megatron down._ " At Lennox's words, Morshower took in a deep sigh and held his forehead in his hand. 

" _As lovely as that idea sounds, we need presidential clearance to be able to re-establish human-Autobot relations._ " He explained. " _And unfortunately, the president is keen on backing the TRF._ " Morshower looked at Lennox again. " _Maintain your covert imbed, and I'll contact our boys at the CIA to draw up a plan._ " Lennox nodded and got up to leave, though as he did, Morshower turned to look at him. " _And Lennox?_ " 

Lennox turned his head around. " _Yeah?_ "

" _Just know...I would give anything, to have Optimus Prime back with us right now._ " He and Lennox exchanged an understanding glance as Lennox left the room. 


	6. Prelude to Conflict

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Megatron and Barricade make preparations before staging the rescue of their fellow Decepticons. Meanwhile, Cade and Bee meet an old friend.

_**Abandoned KSI Facility** _

_**Chicago** _

Megatron and Barricade were digging through the discarded materials left behind in Chicago's KSI facility. Megatron took some time to observe his surroundings, from the broken, and now spider-infested, tank which formerly housed the Decepticon-turned-Autobot Brains, who was tasked with downloading data from deceased Cybertronians for use in the KSI drones, to the large table frame where his former Galvatron body was housed. He recalled being the crown jewel of KSI's man-made Transformers, and the constant frustration he caused the designers by constantly adding his own personal touches to the Galvatron body, refusing to simply be a replicate of Optimus Prime. He cringed at the thought that he could have turned out as a mirror image of his sworn enemy, though he was quickly taken out of his thoughts by a approaching Barricade. 

" _Lord Megatron, the equipment and Transformium reserves are ready._ " He looked toward his leader as they began to walk to a complex set-up of machinery, multiple piles of raw Transformium laid out on tables and electrical equipment connected to them all, ready to give them new life. Megatron grinned, relishing the idea that he shall once again have an army to do his bidding. Though they wouldn't necessarily be true Decepticons, unlike the ones he had discovered TRF held captive, they would serve well for raiding the TRF's prison facility, if Barricade's reports that they have powerful anti-Cybertronian weapons is to be believed. Megatron walked over to the control systems for the electrical equipment plugged into the Transformium that surrounded them. " _Care to do the honors?_ " He stepped back, as Megatron grinned and took hold of the activation switch. He prepared to activate it, and give life to his new Decepticon army, though he was quickly interrupted by a strange voice. 

" _Yo, Joyce! You in here? C'mon, I got some good stuff, don't bail on me toda-_ " Daytrader had waltzed into the chamber, and froze on the spot upon seeing Megatron and Barricade. The three all stood still for a moment, exchanging unblinking stares, with Megatron and Barricade exchanging quick glances between one another. Daytrader looked between the two Decepticons. " _Well, um, I should be on my way. Have a nice day, you tw-_ " He was suddenly interrupted by a direct blast to his chest from Megatron's fusion cannon, sending him crashing through a wall. 

Megatron turned to Barricade. " _Prepare the army. I need to deal with some 'pest control'._ " He turned away from their setup and walked down toward the wall he had sent Daytrader through. He walked over to the Cybertronian merchant, his fusion cannon aimed at him in case he made any effort to escape. " _Daytrader._ " 

He looked up at Megatron, trying to get himself onto his feet after being sent through a wall. A small hole had been blasted into his chest, though thankfully the amount of junk items strapped all over his body provided a shield and prevented any fatal damage being dealt. He stared up at the Decepticon leader fearfully. " _M-Megatron? You, uh....you look different._ " He slowly inched himself away from Megatron, trying to small talk his way out of the situation. " _You buy yourself a fancy suit?_ " 

Megatron scoffed at Daytrader's words. " _Still trying to be the funny 'Bot in the crowd, I see._ " He gave a light chuckle as he stared down Daytrader. " _L_ _et's not make a complete waste of your final moments..._ " Megatron aimed his fusion cannon toward Daytrader's head, charging the weapon. " _Tell me why you are here._ " 

Daytrader stared up, panicked at the idea that Megatron could shoot him down at any moment. " _w-Well, uhh....I kinda....you know, it's actually quite intere-_ " 

" _Get to the point._ "

" _O-Okay! Okay, okay, okay!!! I was meant to meet Joshua here to get some new gear to deliver to the Autobots!!_ " Daytrader cowered, as Megatron perked up slightly. He grinned as he lowered his fusion cannon and chuckled. 

" _The Autobots, you say?_ " Megatron began to walk around Daytrader. " _Funny you should mention them, because I've spent years trying to track them down. Where did you find them?_ "

Daytrader blinked as he sat himself against a wall, keeping his eyes on Megatron. " _I-I'm not really sure I should be telling you, becau-_ " 

He was cut off once again as a strange, unfamiliar Decepticon began to enter the chamber. It was purple and black, an orange light sticking out from its otherwise featureless face. Wheels were visible on its shoulders and thighs, though overall it looked rather generic. " _Awaiting instructions, Lord Megatron. We are ready._ "

Megatron grinned widely as the Decepticon bowed down in front of him, as several others just like it began to gather outside of the room he was standing in. The Decepticons all saluted, chanting ' _All Hail Megatron_ ' in unison as he stared in admiration of his new drone army. The Decepticon leader then returned his gaze to Daytrader, a menacing stare in his eyes. 

" _Barricade, prepare the drone army for departure, and..._ " He suddenly grabbed Daytrader and once again threw him through the wall, in front of all his new drones. " _...melt him down for parts, alive. Let him watch his spark fade away as, in death, he finally serves a purpose._ " Megatron grinned as he began to leave the KSI facility, the Decepticon drones dragging a shaking and screaming Daytrader away to slowly perish. 

_**Automobile Shop** _

_**25 Minutes from Autobot Junkyard Base** _

Cade and Bumblebee drove down toward an old automobile shop, pulling into a parking space that was obscured from public view so that nobody would be able to identify Bee. Cade opened up the door and got out, gently patting Bee on the roof of his alt mode. " _You know the drill, just stay here, don't make too much noise. Be back in a minute._ " Bee made some robotic noises to show he understood Cade's instructions as he walked around to the front of the automobile shop, looking up to see the simple, yet somewhat iconic sign; 'Witwicky Auto Shop'. That name seemed familiar to Cade for some reason, he thought that maybe he had heard Optimus say it when they first met. 

He walked into the shop and began to browse the shelves, grabbing various small parts and a couple of tools before heading down to the counter, laying down all the items that he had chosen. He saw the shop's owner walk toward the counter, a reasonably skinny man with a small beard and short black hair. " _Hey, welcome to Witwicky Auto Shop. This all you're wanting?_ " He asked, pointing to all of Cade's chosen items. 

" _Oh, uh, yeah._ " Cade smiled and then looked to the shelves behind the owner. " _Um, a couple of Bud Lights as well._ " He nodded toward the bottles in the back, and the owner smiled, moving to grab the beers and then quickly returning to the counter. As he scanned the items, Cade eyed his surroundings. No security cameras...that was a first. Something else grabbed Cade's attention, a framed photo of the owner standing beside former US President Barack Obama, holding a medal. " _Medal from the President?_ " Cade nodded toward the photo. The owner turned to look at it too, then laughed a little. 

" _Yeah, 2010._ " He smiled. " _I, uh...I saved the world. Me, the government, the Autobots..._ " He stopped himself after mentioning the Autobots, then looked at Cade again. Something finally clicked, he had heard of Cade before. He was the government fugitive harboring the Autobots. There was a large reward issued for his capture. " _Wait, you're..._ " 

Cade held out his hand. " _Yeah, I'm the wanted Transformer guy, which makes you Sam._ " He gave a small pause as Sam shook his hand. " _You know, I got Bee with me. I'd heard you two were good friends before all this...wanna come say hi?_ " He offered, pointing to the door. 

Sam smiled a little at the idea. He hadn't seen Bumblebee since NEST was disbanded and Cemetery Wind came into action, and part of him wanted to go see Bumblebee again, even for just a minute. However, the other part of him knew the truth. " _I...I can't. When the alliance broke up, they helped me set this place up, to stay low...but I swore that I would never see the Autobots again. Or they...they'd lock me up, and then kill Bee._ " He sighed a little. " _Besides, I got a family. Hot wife and two children. They come first, you know?_ " He scanned the rest of Cade's items and then pushed them all toward him. " _If you're with the Autobots, you're a good guy. Just pay me half, and tell Bumblebee I say hi, alright?_ " Cade nodded as he gave Sam the money he requested and took the stuff off the counter. Sam watched Cade leave the door, taking in a deep breath as he reached under the counter, taking out another photo he had taken before Chicago, of him and Bumblebee together. Bee had changed Sam's life, and he kept hold of the photo as he heard the sound of a car leaving the store, knowing that he had let the chance to see an old friend again slip by him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay with this chapter! Been busy with work and a long period of writer's block! Hope this was worth it! : ) 
> 
> Also, Sam Witwicky has returned! I debated having him come back, and kind of replace Agent Simmons as the minor character who technically doesn't need to be there, but is there anyway because why not? I hope you enjoy seeing him again, though!


	7. An Audience with Megatron

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Megatron arranges a negotiation with the TRF to free some of his fellow Decepticons.

_**TRF/CIA Facility** _

Lennox once again entered the secret room of the TRF facility, though this time he was unsure what would go down. Last time he was here, Morshower was grilling him for lashing out at a TRF commander following a stand-off with Cade Yeager and Bumblebee. As he sat down, he saw the grim expression on Morshower's face and knew that there wouldn't be any good news today. The look shook him; Morshower hadn't been this serious since Chicago. As Lennox pulled out a chair and sat down, a drone-captured image appeared on the monitor beside their table. " _Well, that's certainly not good news._ " Lennox spoke quietly as the image fully loaded. It showed another, smaller CIA facility, one of their many undercover houses, being destroyed, as two agents flew out of the explosion and into the hand of a large Transformer. 

" _We captured this image through a drone just a few hours ago._ " Morshower began to explain their situation. " _A Decepticon attacked one of our many hidden CIA homes, and snatched up two operatives. We've managed to confirm his ID, it's Megatron._ " He exchanged looks of concern with Lennox, as they looked over at the monitor. It changed from a static image, to a live drone video feed of an unknown make of jet, Cybertronian in appearance, flying quickly through a desert-like environment. " _Here's the interesting part, though. He left us a message for TRF, said that he wants to negotiate._ "

Lennox was taken aback. " _Negotiate? With him?_ " He shook his head with disbelief. " _The hell does he want?_ " 

The monitor's display changed again, this time to a series of Decepticons of various shapes and sizes. " _He wants certain Decepticons to be released from the N.B.E Supermax facility, in exchange for the return of the operatives._ " Morshower once again turned to look at Lennox. " _We don't know why he wants to negotiate, but our priority is to get those operatives away from him. You'll be taking point._ "

Once again, Lennox couldn't believe what he was being told. " _Why me?_ " 

" _Because I trust you._ " Morshower gave a slight smile. " _Nobody here knows the Decepticons better than you, you've taken them head-on throughout our history with the Autobots, you know Megatron. You know how he works, what tricks he might try and pull, and most of all, you know that he is not our friend, no matter what he says._ " He gave Lennox's shoulder a small pat. " _You'll be given a hidden convoy of anti-Transformer weapons. Your task is to get the CIA ops over to your side, and then blow Megatron back to hell._ " 

Lennox nodded in acknowledgement and got out of his seat, pushing it back and heading toward the door. " _Time to take his ass out, once and for all._ " He spoke before leaving the room and meeting up with the convoy. 

_**Negotiation Point** _

" _Lord Megatron, the humans are broadcasting their position. Just as planned._ " Barricade spoke over Megatron's private communications network. " _I have the drones in position, I just need time to get through the facility's defense matrix._ " 

Megatron continued to fly until the negotiation point was within his sight. " _Excellent, Barricade. Send the drones in as soon as you've broken through, do not wait for me._ " He gave a slight chuckle as he shut off his communications. " _Time to put on a show._ " Megatron suddenly spun around as he began to transform, slamming his fist into the ground once he was finished. Within his other hand were the two humans he had abducted, and he tossed them up as though they were coins. He began to walk toward the set-up the TRF had on display, though one human in particular had caught his attention. " _Colonel Lennox. It has been a long time._ " 

" _You remember me?_ " Lennox stared up at the Decepticon leader, trying to hold back the temptation to just blow him up right now, but he needed to stay focused. The lives of the operatives were his highest priority. 

Megatron smirked. " _I never forget a face, even that of a human._ " He held up the CIA operatives. " _Let's get right down to business. You release my Decepticons, and you can take these meatbags back._ " He surveyed the area around him, looking at the unusual amount of trucks that were present. Were these humans so scared of him that they needed plenty of getaway trucks? It was pathetic. 

Lennox sighed as he pushed back the shades he was wearing. " _Alright, give me names!_ " He shouted up to Megatron. 

" _Swindle._ " 

Lennox gestured to one of the three N.B.E Supermax officials present with him. " _Swindle?_ " 

One official began to type quickly into a computer. " _Okay, Swindle...in for supplying Cybertronian weaponry to extremist groups operating in the Middle East, and attempting to smuggle weapons into the United States on behalf of extremists._ " The official did some further typing and then gave Lennox a nod. " _Okay, he's clear so long as he does not return to the Middle East._ " 

Lennox gave a quick thumbs-up to Megatron. " _Right, next!_ " 

Megatron stared down slightly as he pondered the next Decepticon he wanted to release. " _Hmm...Dreadbot._ " He turned to face the officials. 

The officials began to type rapidly again, a second official choosing to speak out. " _Okay, Dreadbot...in for a bank robbery. Aggravated assault, murder, double murder, triple murder. Nine dead, he didn't even bother with the money. We aren't releasing him._ " She shot a glare at Megatron, who responded by pulling a large sword from his back and slamming it into the ground, just inches away from the prison officials. 

" _WHAT?!_ " Megatron snarled at the officials. 

The female official who spoke to him stared up at him nervously. " _Well, we...we can be flexible. If he wears a GPS tracker, it should be fine._ " She looked back to her computer as Megatron pulled his sword back. Lennox let out a breath of relief, but one more slip-up and Megatron could start killing. 

Megatron returned his attention back to Lennox. " _Nitro Zeus._ " He gave another name, as the officials resumed their rapid typing. 

The official who had cleared Swindle for release looked up at Megatron. " _Okay, Nitro Zeus. Former associate of Shockwave, in for hacking worldwide government networks, destruction of military bases who had aided in the Chicago battle and numerous accounts of harassing his wardens._ " The official pulled Lennox toward him and pointed to his monitor, speaking out of earshot of Megatron. " _This guy's got it out for military bases, and he'll go after all you NEST guys if he gets the chance._ " 

Lennox sighed slightly but then looked at the official. " _GPS tracker, and a shock tracker that'll force him into stasis if he goes within firing range of a base._ " He told the official quietly before they each looked at Megatron. " _Okay, he's clear!_ " 

Megatron smiled as he began to ponder the last Decepticon to release. " _Last but not least...Berserker._ " He grinned at the mention of his name, as he knew Berserker well. A true brute, with a force to be reckoned with. If he had Berserker by his side, the Autobots would never stand a chance. 

" _Absolutely not._ " Lennox stared at a computer monitor one of the officials was showing him. " _Yeah, no, not a chance. Pick again!_ " He had to put his foot down, though Megatron didn't seem too fazed by this, as he very quickly gave another response. 

" _Fine then...Onslaught._ " He watched as the CIA officials within his hand began to try and climb their way out of his grip, though he quickly rolled them back into his palm and keep them trapped. It would take them a while to dig up information on Onslaught; he had covered his tracks too well at the time of his capture. He heard his private communications network activate, and he tuned it on without Lennox's knowledge. 

" _L_ _ord Megatron, the defense matrix is down. Drone forces are moving into attack, just waiting on your arrival_." Barricade spoke over his communications, as Lennox's attention was drawn to one of the soldiers within a truck behind him. 

" _Major Lennox, something's wrong._ " He held his tablet in front of Lennox. " _The defense matrix shut down at N.B.E Supermax, Decepticon drones are opening fire on outer defences._ " They both looked horrified by this, as Megatron began to laugh. 

Lennox stared up at him. " _Shit...it was a trick! Open fire!!_ " He yelled as the trucks all moved into new positions, revealing anti-Transformer turrets mounted onto them as they began to fire at Megatron. Megatron dodged as much as he could before he threw his CIA captives to the ground and crushing them both under his fist. He then drew his fusion cannon and opened fire on the trucks surrounding him, knocking back Lennox and killing all the prison officials, before he transformed back into his jet mode and took off at sonic speeds toward the N.B.E Supermax facility. 

As the smoke and flames from Megatron's attack subsided, Lennox looked around at the destruction and death Megatron had caused, staring in the direction had flown off in with horror. " _...What have we done?_ " 


	8. Izzy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During the Battle of Chicago, Izzy loses her family, but soon makes a new one.

_**2011** _

_**Decepticon Takeover of Chicago** _

The Autobots had been destroyed. Thrown out of Earth by a government who had turned against them under the instructions of Sentinel Prime, who had issued a truce under the condition of the Autobots' exile. Now that they were gone, the Decepticons were free to run rampant. They had locked down the city of Chicago, and were now slaughtering anyone who crossed their line of sight. 

Izzy was fleeing alongside her parents and around five other families from their block. A trio of Decepticons were following them, blasting at the buildings surrounding them and picking off the humans one-by-one. Izzy looked behind her as she ran, getting a brief look at her attackers. Two of them were simple soldiers, the kind that had bee reported all over the city. One of them, however, stuck out like a sore thumb, with only one red, glowing eye that seemed to stare directly at her, and a massive cannon in place of its right arm. This Decepticon was also significantly larger than the others, so it must have been an important one. Izzy stared briefly at the larger Decepticon before her mother pulled her further and further ahead, watching helplessly as the others around her were reduced to nothing but dust by the weapons fire of the Decepticons. 

They turned around a corner, watching military drones and aircraft being shot out of the sky by Decepticon ships. The two Decepticon soldiers had broken away to go and cause chaos elsewhere, but their leader remained in pursuit. Izzy heard the Decepticon growling and turned around just in time to see it cocking its weapon and pointing it directly at her. Izzy's parents noticed this too and immediately went to shield her, the blast following mere seconds later. Izzy was knocked back several feet, landing within a pile of rubble, though her parents were completely nowhere to be seen. The Decepticon seemed to laugh, looking around the area to try and find Izzy, likely wanting to finish her off as well, though could not find her. It growled once again in disappointment as it turned around and slowly began to walk away, eventually leaving Izzy's line of sight. 

As everything grew quiet around her, Izzy peeked out from the rubble she was hiding underneath. The Decepticons were gone, but so was everybody else. Her parents were gone; killed within the rush of their panic. She began to cry softly, burying her face into her arms and laying there on the ground, unable to do anything else. As she cried, the rubble above her began to move and shift, and within seconds she saw a giant robot looming over her. She wanted to scream, but couldn't, out of fear that maybe the Decepticons would come back and finish her. The robot looked down at her, its green eyes giving an understanding look. " _Hey there, little girl. What's wrong?_ " It asked, leaning closer to her to get a better look at her. Izzy wiped away some of the tears from her face and pointed to where the large Decepticon was standing. 

" _B-Big robot...my mommy and daddy are dead.._ " She cried a bit more as the robot picked her up with its hands and lifted her up. 

It gave her a concerned look. " _That was Shockwave...I'm sorry about your parents._ " It shot a passing glance to where Shockwave was standing, then turned back at Izzy. " _What's your name?_ " He asked her, as she began to calm down. 

" _Izabella. Everyone just calls me Izzy, though._ " She gave a small smile, which the robot quickly returned. 

" _That's a nice name, Izzy. I'm Canopy._ " He held Izzy closely as he looked around. " _How's about I look after you for a while?_ " He stood upright and began to walk away from the sounds of distant explosions and screams. " _Maybe we could find a TV around here? Or some food. Would you like that?_ " 

Izzy nodded slightly as she held onto Canopy's hand. " _Yeah._ " She looked up at Canopy and smiled as the large Transformer began to take her away from all the destruction. 

_**Present Day** _

_**Autobot Junkyard Base** _

Izzy woke up slowly within one of the cars in the junkyard, wiping a stray tear away from her cheek. She sat up slowly, taking in a shaky breath. She wiped her eyes again, trying to get the flashing memories of Canopy out of her head. She still wasn't quite over his sudden death, especially after everything he had done for her, though she wouldn't have to dwell on his death alone. She turned to the side of the car to see the young, mechanical Triceratops from earlier trying to clamber its way into the car. Izzy smiled a little and managed to just barely lift the young Dinobot into the car and laid it down on her lap. 

Pterry flew over to the car as well and landed on the broken door window, squawking at Izzy. Joining Pterry soon after was the baby T-Rex, who was shooting out small bursts of flame from his mouth, just like Grimlock. Izzy smiled as all three small Dinobots moved over and allowed her to embrace them. " _Morning, little guys._ " She giggled slightly as the Triceratops nuzzled the bottom of her chin a little.

As they all watched the sun come up, Izzy felt happy that she would be accepted into this new family, as she could hear Crosshairs distantly. " _Rise and shine, rust-buckets!_ " 


	9. Breakout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Megatron and his forces storm N.B.E Supermax to free the Decepticons

_**N.B.E Supermax - TRF Prison Facility** _

The facility was quiet only mere minutes ago, though now the scene was nothing but chaos. First the defense systems began to malfunction and shut down, then a whole swarm of Decepticon drones began to attack the base, caving in the walls and shooting down the anti-Transformer weapon systems installed within the prison before they could be restarted. The wardens and prison guards within were helpless, and it seemed as though things weren't able to get any worse. 

And yet, things got worse. 

The roof suddenly caved in as well, and a large black jet soon transformed itself into a giant, knightly figure, which the TRF had now successfully identified as Megatron. Megatron rose up beyond the mess he had made, preparing his fusion cannon and firing a series of devastating blasts in front of him, sending humans, TRF Sentinels, and machinery flying. " _My Decepticon brothers..._ " Megatron threw his arms into the air as explosions filled the room around him, and the automated shutdown of the facility's systems commenced. " _I HAVE GIVEN YOU FREEDOM!!!_ "

_**Maximum Security - Cell #01** _

_**Inmate: Swindle** _

The power to the cell had shut down within the blink of an eye. Swindle looked around in the darkness. " _Ah, now this place is in serious need of better lighting! Just another good reason why I'm here._ " Swindle complained as he took out a digital, holographic list containing everything he felt as though his prison cell could benefit from, and added 'better lights' onto the list. He put the list away and tilted his glasses downward to look at his cell door. He could hear distant gunshots and screaming from the other side; it sounded like somebody was coming to his rescue. About time, too. Swindle longed to conduct some of his business once again, and sell some black market weapons to the Decepticons. He would have sold to the Autobots as well, but they're lousy customers. Megatron was where the real money was at, once you looked past the constant threats of brutal torture, and the odd moments where Megatron actually follows through on those threats.

As Swindle began to stand up, he opened up his chest cavity. " _Now, any good sales pitcher must be prepared for a transaction at any moment. I must be at my best._ " He reached into his chest cavity with both his hands, whistling a little bit to himself as his hands reached deeper and deeper within his chest, until he finally pulled out two large, somewhat clunky Cybertronian shotguns. Just as he did so, the door to his cell was blasted clean off its hinges and two unfamiliar Decepticons stepped in, weapons charged. " _Gentlemen! Step right up, and allow me to present to you, these new and exclusive Deluxe-class firearms! Once in a lifetime purchase right here, let me tell you! Maximum range of 300 feet, just perfect for that long-distance warfare! What do ya say?_ " 

The two Decepticons looked over at each other, then back at Swindle, lowering their weapons. " _...How much?_ " One of them asked, pointing to the larger of the two weapons that Swindle was holding. 

" _Well, how about I cut you a deal? You freed me, so I shall give you both a free trial run of these weapons until we get out of this place, then we can discuss prices._ " The two Decepticons nodded eagerly and took the weapons from Swindle, equipping them and then turning back to the room's entrance. " _Now, I suppose the Big Megs is waiting for me. Take me to my favorite customer._ " He smiled as the two Decepticons began to lead him out of his cell. 

_**Maximum Security - Cell #02** _

_**Inmate: Dreadbot** _

Noises of alarms and the footsteps of fleeing humans filled the room. Dreadbot snarled as he stared eagerly at the door, waiting for his chance at freedom. He had been planning to break out for a while now, to strike back at the humans for what they had done. He had heard the old war stories from Megatron, of how an elite trio of Dreads had aided him prior to Chicago. He had heard of Crowbar's swift execution at the hands of the Autobot Ironhide. The thought of it only fueled Dreadbot's rage, and for too long he has had to keep it bottled up, lest he allow the puny humans running beneath his feet the opportunity to torture him further. Thankfully, the opportunity for his revenge would soon be upon him. 

The power to Dreadbot's cell was suddenly cut out, and he heard the sound of the locks deactivating. Letting out a low chuckle, he transformed his left arm into a blaster and charged through his cell door, letting out a triumphant roar as he immediately eyed the humans fleeing in terror from the sight of him. Eagerly, Dreadbot shot them down with his blaster, reducing them to nothing more than piles of ashes. Laughing, Dreadbot began to sprint through the corridor, gunning down any human within his line of sight, relishing every shot he fired as he did so. This was what Dreadbot lived for; the thrill of the hunt. Other things such as money or mission objectives became immaterial to him once he began killing. That was all he needed to feel complete. 

As he turned the corner of the corridor, his excitement was briefly halted by two unfamiliar Cybertronians standing in front of him. He quickly noticed the Decepticon insignia on their chests and knew that they were not his enemies, so he lowered his weapon. " _Guess he didn't need our help to escape._ " One of them spoke, trying to keep his words out of Dreadbot's range of hearing, but Dreadbot heard just fine, growling in return. " _We understand there's another one of you...'Dreads'...in the isolated cell._ " The Decepticon pointed to the far end of the corridor, though Dreadbot immediately shoved them both out of his way as he began to run down once again, reaching to the back of his shoulder and taking out a spiked explosive device. He flung the device toward the steel-barricaded door and ran straight through the explosion that immediately followed. 

He knew exactly where he was going, and he knew that Berserker was just as eager to massacre the humans surrounding them as he was. 

_**Maximum Security - Cell #03** _

_**Inmate: Nitro Zeus** _

" _Hey! What gives?!_ " Nitro spoke with a clear tone of frustration as he stared at the now-blank screen in front of him. This was meant to be his 'authorized downtime', when he was allowed limited access to the facility's servers and could view a movie from their library. On this particular day, Nitro was watching one of the many 'Transformers' television series that were created in the time when Autobot-human alliances were still in effect, and Transformers weren't declared illegal. " _I was just getting into this one!_ " He stared up at the group of humans who seemed just as surprised at the sudden power outage as he was. 

One of the humans, Enrique, walked over to the gate separating them from Nitro. " _We have no idea, man. Power just cut out to the whole facility. Besides, I thought you hated these shows._ " Enrique then pulled out a sheet of paper from a clipboard. " _In fact, your specific words were 'What the hell did they do to my boy, Shockwave?_.'" 

" _That was that wierd 'Generation One' crap, I'm watching one where they're all animals now._ " He pointed at the screen. " _The raptor guy is growing on me._ " He gave a small nod as Enrique returned to the other people in the room. 

Nitro simply sat down and began to reflect. When he was first taken into the prison, he hated humans. After being told of the death of his brother, Shockwave, due to the combined efforts of humanity and Optimus Prime, he wanted revenge. He went after military bases and tracked down as many former NEST members as he could. Then he was brought here, and after a couple years, he began to mellow out. He still desired revenge for Shockwave, but this anger became increasingly directed at Optimus and less toward humans. In fact, Nitro began to grow slightly fond of humanity, or at the very least he enjoyed the company of his personal wardens. He heard the faint sounds of explosions going off in the distance, and quickly realized that Megatron had come to break everybody out. Seeing a chance to prove that he was making progress to changing his vengeful ways, he turned toward Enrique and the others. " _Hey, you guys should get out of here._ " He went toward the gate. " _Like, now. Something's going down out there, you should go._ " 

Enrique and the others all exchanged glances between themselves and Nitro, though the distant shouting of Megatron's proclamations of Decepticon freedom quickly gave them a reason to take Nitro's concerns into consideration as they ran through a backdoor, which would lead them to a staff break room. Nitro sighed slightly with relief, knowing that they would be safe, just as the wall holding his film screen blew apart, and Megatron himself had made himself present. " _Nitro, old friend. It is good to see that you are still functioning._ " 

" _L-Lord Megatron??_ " Nitro did what he could to seem shocked. " _Long time, no see...huh?_ " 

" _Indeed._ " Megatron grinned as a small entourage of smaller, newer Decepticons remained watchful behind him. " _The time has come, my friend. To reclaim the fallen Decepticon empire, and to avenge fallen allies._ " He held out a hand to Nitro. " _Shockwave remains unavenged, after all. It is time to finish what you started._ " He grinned as Nitro slowly took his hand. " _First, we destroy this pathetic prison, then we tear Optimus Prime to pieces. Joint by joint._ " 

Nitro let out a chuckle, satisfied with the fact that he was now free, doubly so that the few humans he actually liked were safe from Megatron. Most of all, though, he was excited by the prospect that Optimus would finally face Decepticon justice for what he had done. 

_**Maximum Security - Cell #04** _

_**Inmates: "Fathead", Onslaught** _

" _Hey, you hear that? Did you hear that?_ " A large, overweight, and incessantly annoying Decepticon was bouncing around excitedly, while a second Decepticon was brooding in the darkest corner of the cell. " _We're gonna be free! Free! Just imagine that!_ " He was clearly excited about that. 

The brooding Decepticon leaned forward slightly. " _...I can imagine it. Being free from you...what a joy._ " He turned to glare at his larger cellmate, paying as much attention as he could to the sounds of gunshots and the complete shutdown of the prison facility. This was definitely a pre-planned operation, the strategy was all there. Onslaught had studied the facility well, he had seen their weapon systems completely shred through Decepticons in the past. He recalled one rather frail individual, Mohawk, who was blown to pieces with a single turret shot. These humans, weak as they seemed, were far from stupid. 

The power to their cell began to cut out, and an alarm rang somewhere in the distance to signify that their cell's power was shut off. The larger Decepticon chuckled with glee as the door to their cell began to open up. " _Oh, look! It's opening!_ " He gave some applause as he went toward the door, waiting for it to open up all the way so he could fit himself through. " _We're gonna be free! We're gonna be free! We'r-_ "

The excited sounds of the larger Decepticon were cut short as he was suddenly shot straight through the head, killing him instantly. His large, chunky body fell to the ground with a resounding 'thud' as two Decepticon drones walked toward the entrance. " _...Thank you._ " Onslaught walked out of the room, a backpack of weapons strapped to him as he grabbed his larger friend's corpse. " _Took you long enough._ "

The two drones glanced at each other and then looked down at the corpse Onslaught was holding. They weren't told much about the Decepticons that they would be rescuing, and certainly weren't expecting them to be killing each other. " _Lord Megatron is waiting in the main sector of the facility._ " 

" _Of course he is. Always wanting to be right in the center of the battlefield...I can respect that._ " Onslaught gripped his cellmate's corpse and began to drag it across the ground. He motioned for the two drones to follow behind as he reached into his backpack, taking out a slightly large Cybertronian assault rifle and activating it. " _Let's go destroy this place._ "

_**Maximum Security - Isolated Cell** _

_**Inmate: Berserker** _

Within the isolated cell of the facility, it was nothing short of complete panic. The power had suddenly cut off, and workers were scrambling to evacuate the area immediately before the emergency power system kicked in and locked them all within the cell with its captive. Berserker seemed to have been fully aware of what was going on, and he immediately began to push against his restraints. They remained firmly attached, as he growled under his muzzle, pushing as hard as he can to try and break himself free. He could hear the screams and panic of the humans around him, only fueling his bloodlust further. 

The sounds of gunshots filled the air, and Berserker briefly stopped his efforts to escape and stared at the entrance to his cell. He began to feel a familiar presence around him, one of his fellow Dreads. He watched eagerly as a large hole was suddenly blown through the door and Dreadbot poked his head through. He spoke in a deep, growling voice, speaking something in Cybertronian that only Berserker was able to understand. After a few more holes were blown into the door, Dreadbot burst through and roared to try and scare away any remaining humans in the room. He ran over to Berserker and once again spoke in Cybertronian, beginning to pull his restraints off their hinges to free his comrade. 

The restraints on Berserker's arms and legs were freed, and he pushed Dreadbot aside, grabbing the muzzle placed over his mouth and tearing it off with great ease, letting out a loud roar to let everyone around him know that he was finally free. Taking the first steps he had taken for over a year, Berserker immediately eyed up a lone warden trapped in the room by one of his restraints. Berserker snarled, drooling as he went down to his hands and knees, looking at his terrified prey. He opened up his jaws, revealing a smaller secondary jaw, just large enough to bite down on a human throat. The smaller jaw extended itself and clamped down on the poor human's throat, leeching all the blood from his body before eventually retracting back into Berserker's jaws. " _Delicious...it has been too long since I've tasted blood!!_ " He laughed as he stood back up straight and turned to his fellow Dread. 

Dreadbot was busy breaking into a large container within the cell, throwing aside the top of the container and pulling out two Cybertronian weapons. One of which was a blaster much like the one he had with him, and the other being an extendable, grabber-like weapon that could attach to Berserker's hand. Dreadbot threw the weapons toward his brother, who easily caught them. " _I smell Megatron...let us go hunt, my brother._ " Berserker loaded his weapons as he and Dreadbot ran out of the cell, toward Megatron. 

_**Main Chamber** _

The other Decepticons had all rallied around their leader, as everything around them was in flames. TRF Sentinels and anti-Transformer weapons were dismantled within seconds, and the entire facility was locked down. Several barriers were deployed around the entrance to the facility and the roof, sealing the hole Megatron had left and trapping the Decepticons within the room. " _The nine-layer barricade. Total of 45 inches worth of the toughest metal that these humans could afford._ " Onslaught walked through, looking at the barrier in front of them. " _By normal means, it would take us a while to break through, but..._ " He then lifted up the corpse he had been dragging behind him the entire time. " _...we can improvise._ " Onslaught handed the corpse over to Megatron, who grinned down at it. 

" _A shame to waste away one of our troops, but we can make a good use of this. Swindle!_ " He snapped his fingers, as the Decepticon merchant walked to his side and gave a salute. " _I would like to go out with a 'bang', if you catch my drift._ " He held out one of his hands as Swindle opened up his chest cavity and began to move his arm around inside, eventually pulling out around three explosive devices. 

He placed them into Megatron's hand. " _Here we go! Military-grade Cybertronian explosives! Perfect for when you really wanna see some flames, and capable of piercing thro--_ " 

" _Spare me your pitches!_ " Megatron growled as he placed the explosives onto the body he was holding. " _I know you deliver the goods...if only because you know the consequences if you don't._ " He finished placing the explosives and, rather impressively, flung the heavy Decepticon corpse at the thick barriers, following it soon after with a series of blasts from his fusion cannon, creating a massive explosion that filled the room with smoke. The Decepticons all walked through the large hole that the combined efforts of Swindle's explosives and Megatron's cannon had made. 

The Decepticons all cheered as they stepped outside of their prison, the first taste of fresh air and freedom they were able to have for a long time. Megatron turned around and gave a smile toward the crew that he had gathered. Though he would never openly admit it, he had missed the Decepticons during his time spent as Galvatron, and though none of these troops would ever match the likes of Soundwave, he was more than happy to lead them into the future. 

Barricade and the Vehicons joined Megatron's side as the Decepticon ex-prisoners celebrated. " _A complete success, Lord Megatron. What's the next stage?_ " 

" _Our next stage, Barricade, is tracking down the Seed. Were you able to get the Autobots' location from the TRF database?_ " He turned to face his lieutenant, who gave a nod and projected a small map with a pulsing red dot. " _A junkyard...how appropriate._ " He turned to face his new crew and raised his arms into the air. " _Decepticons!_ " He now had their undivided attention. " _The time is upon us, to begin the next stage in securing a future for our kind here on Earth! Today,_ " Megatron gave a small pause as he turned to the horizon, a smirk streaking across his face. " _...we hunt a Prime!_ "

His troops cheered once again as all the Decepticons transformed and took off, to accomplish their mission. 


	10. A Trial and a War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Optimus continues his quest to seek answers from Dragonstorm, taking part in a gladiatorial trial to get them. Meanwhile, the TRF and Decepticons each make their moves toward Cade.

_**Cybertron** _

_**Prime Training Chambers** _

" _These are the ancient training chambers of Prima._ " Dragonstorm guided Optimus into a large Cybertronian arena, almost like the one that used to exist within Kaon. He looked around, noting the knight statues above the arena, and the weapons that lined the walls. " _This is where my brothers and I had trained to do battle with Unicron, and where I shall train you for this same battle._ " He watched as Optimus took in the scenery around him, noting the ancient technology of the weapons, unlike anything he had seen before. Dragonstorm chuckled slightly as he walked over to the Prime. " _Impressive, isn't it?_ " 

Optimus nodded his head. " _Yes, very. To train on the same grounds as those who came before me...it is a great honor._ " He turned to face Dragonstorm. " _Yet, I feel as though my time would not be well-spent training for battle. I returned to Cybertron to seek answers, to confront my creators._ "

Dragonstorm looked down at Optimus. " _I can assure you, Optimus Prime, that this threat is unlike anything you have fought before, and I know you have fought many evils across the universe._ " He pointed to the other end of the arena, where four large Cybertronian knights stood. " _You will be tested in battle by my four students. For each one you defeat, I shall give you the answers you seek._ " He noted Optimus' slightly frustrated expression and gave him a nod. " _I know you have come a long way for your answers, but these trials will be essential if you are to battle Unicron._ "

As Optimus turned away, one of the knights approached him. The knight was impressively tall, perhaps rivalling Grimlock in size. A metallic whip dragged behind it as it strolled over to Optimus, a series of spikes adorned his chest and shoulders, and it stared down with an intimidating gaze. " _Your first opponent will be Slog. Not the brightest bulb, but his strength more than makes up for it._ " Dragonstorm stepped back as the battle commenced. Slog made the first move by slamming his whip into the ground, sending Optimus flying back a few feet. He got up just in time to dodge another strike, as Slog roared out in anger. 

Eyeing the weapons mounted on the walls, Optimus made a mad dash to the left side, transforming into his truck mode to gain speed and put some distance between himself and his opponent. Slog roared once again and gave chase, his thundering footsteps echoing throughout the room. Optimus transformed again and took the handle of a large war hammer. Waiting for the right moment, Optimus raised his left foot and pressed it against the wall, hoping to give himself a boost when striking. Slog drew closer, raising his whip into the air, and Optimus tore the war hammer free from the wall and leapt into the air, slamming it into the side of Slog's face and knocking him down to his knees. Readying himself for another attack, Optimus swung the hammer at Slog again, this time breaking off one of the spikes that protected his chest from attackers. 

Looking on, Dragonstorm and his three remaining students nodded, impressed with Optimus' quick thinking. " _Slog losing. Smaller bot win?_ " One of the knights spoke. 

" _I wouldn't lose faith in your brother just yet, Shrill._ " 

As Optimus and Slog stood at a stand-still, Optimus lifted the war hammer over his shoulder and charged forward for another strike to his head. Slog stood still, showing some degree of intelligence as he eyed Optimus and gripped his whip, watching it straighten out and harden, turning it from a whip into a spear, small spikes adorning its surface. He waited patiently, and when Optimus Prime got close enough, Slog took a swing and used his spear to slam Optimus into the nearby wall, knocking down some of the weapons mounted there. He groaned with pain as he got up and grabbed the war hammer once again. He looked up, as Slog got onto his feet, spear in hand. The two stared down, a piercing silence filling the room. 

Slog stood straight, glaring down at Optimus before roaring out loud. " _SLOG SMASH PRIME!!_ " He cried out before placing his spear on his back and slamming his fists into the ground, his body changing shape into something inhuman. The spear went behind Slog's body and whipped around as a tail as the long neck of a reptilian creature, as he roared once again with his transformation complete. Optimus' eyes widened as the now-rather-obvious conclusion struck him; Slog was a Dinobot! He braced himself as Slog swung his tail into Optimus, flinging him across the arena and colliding into a wall again. Slog roared and ran toward Optimus. 

" _I will not be beaten...I cannot be beaten._ " Optimus gripped his war hammer tightly and watched as Slog reared his head and straightened his neck to ram Optimus, at which point Optimus jumped into the air and slammed the hammer down into Slog's head and then into his legs, causing him to fall onto his side. As he prepared for another attack, he caught Dragonstorm raising his hand from the corner of his eye. 

" _Most impressive, the both of you. Optimus, I shall take one of your questions now, before we move to the next round._ " He watched as Slog transformed back into robot mode and stomped off, muttering things under his breath as Optimus laid the war hammer on the ground. 

Optimus eyed Dragonstorm and held out the Seed that he had been carrying with him. " _I came to Cybertron seeking my Creators, who supplied this Seed to Lockdown, so he could bargain the lives of myself and the Dinobots with humans. Why did the Creators try to destroy Earth to make us?!_ " Optimus demanded, as Dragonstorm took hold of the Seed, inspecting it closely. 

As the other Knights, likely Dinobots as well, approached the duo, Dragonstorm laid the Seed down on the ground. " _After Unicron and Megatronus were cast away, the Primes sought to build what we know now as Cybertronian society. Unfortunately, they had great ambitions, and if they stuck exclusively to using Cybertron's natural resources, there wouldn't have been any ground left to build upon._ " He then projected a holographic image of one of the Primes making an exchange with a smaller, organic alien species. " _To facilitate their needs, the Primes made deals with lower species, giving them the Seeds to cyberform other worlds to create the materials needed to build Cybertron, and to create life. In exchange, these species received generous bounties for their services._ " 

Optimus looked at the Seed carefully, taking in Dragonstorm's words. " _So...the Primes used bounty hunters to destroy other worlds, just to make us? How wrong they were..._ "

" _It was necessary, Optimus. You mustn't judge them for making choices for the greater good of our people. Sacrifices had to be made._ " He faced the young Prime with a look of understanding, yet concerning at the same time. " _You may think they were wrong, but they did what they had to so they could guarantee Cybertron's future._ " Dragonstorm raised himself back up. " _The training continues. Shrill, Warble, step forward!_ "

As Dragonstorm stepped back, two other Knights stepped forward to face Optimus. The left one, Shrill, bore the appearance of a medieval Earth knight, a helmet and mask concealing his true face. The right, Warble, stood out from the crowd as the only female Knight, holding what appeared to be a primitive sonic cannon in her hand. Shrill then transformed into his alternate mode, a large dinosaur with a pair of three-clawed hands and two small crests above its eyes. 

" _Now, Optimus, let's see what you're really made of._ "

_**Planet Earth** _

_**Abandoned KSI Facility** _

Back on Earth, the Decepticons were preparing themselves for a confrontation for the ages. Standing next to the melted-down corpse of Daytrader, Megatron faced the legions of Vehicon drones he had created, and his loyal Decepticon crew. " _Now, my faithful Decepticons, the time has come for us to strike back at the Autobots for their crimes against us!_ " Megatron spoke proudly to the rallying Decepticon crowd, who cheered at his words. " _We shall reclaim the Seed from Optimus Prime, and we shall rebuild this pitiful planet into a true Decepticon empire, with an army that will help us conquer worlds!!_ " The Decepticons all cheered and raised their fists. " _Tonight, we storm the junkyard where the Autobots are hiding, we strike them down and we claim what is rightfully ours!!_ " 

The Decepticons all cheered as Megatron walked out of the facility and transformed, taking off into the skies and soaring through the air as his army followed him closely behind. Tonight would be their triumph. 

_**TRF Compound** _

Within the primary TRF compound, the soldiers are all getting ready, under the supervision of Lennox and Santos. " _This is a pretty big setup for a bag and tag op. What's really going on here, Lennox?_ " Santos asked, turning to his partner with some suspicion. 

" _It's classified. All you need to know is that we need Cade and the Autobots alive._ " Lennox grabbed his own weapons and got into one of the many nearby vehicles, as Santos closed his door. 

" _You know, all those men the Decepticons killed when they broke out...they were MY men. If those Autobots so much as lay a hand on their weapons, I'm blasting them to hell._ " Santos shot Lennox a glare as he left to join another vehicle, as they all drove out and headed down toward the location of Cade's hideout.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the delay on this one! Hope you're still sticking around : ) 
> 
> As a side note, meet Shrill and Warble! Two brand new, original Dinobot characters me and some friends on Discord cooked up for this story, based on two Dinobot alt modes featured in some concept art by Ryan Church. We hope you enjoy them as much as you do the canon cast!


	11. Junkyard Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cade, Izzy and the Autobots go on the run, as Hound and Hot Rod stay behind to fend off the Decepticons.

_**Autobot Junkyard** _

Back at the Autobots' junkyard base, Izzy was settling in to her new family, playing with the robotic baby Triceratops and a tennis ball, as the other baby Dinobots watch the ball eagerly, waiting for the Triceratops to stop holding the ball in its mouth. " _Come on, Tops. You have to share. Let the others play too._ " Tops looked up at her before spitting the tennis ball out, sending Pterry and the baby T-Rex into a playful frenzy, as Tops walked his way over to Izzy and climbed his way onto her lap, lying down and closing his eyes. Izzy smiled and stroked Tops' head and behind his small neck frill, smiling as she watched the other two Dinobots playing with one another. She looked up to see Hot Rod, the French Autobot, sitting atop a pile of used cars beside her. 

" _Bonjour, mon nouveau petit ami. S'amuser avec les petits?_ " He asked her, watching as Pterry was lifting the tennis ball into the air, with the T-Rex clinging onto it with his mouth. Izzy still couldn't quite understand what he was saying, but assumed he was talking about the baby Dinobots and gave him a nod. " _Excellent. Vous savez, je pense que vous et moi allons très bien nous entendre. Nous, les débutants, devons rester ensemble._ " He raised his hand and ruffled Izzy's hair a little bit, prompting her to laugh a little bit. The two of them then looked up to see a green Autobot, Crosshairs, flying around on a small Cybertronian ship. 

He stopped to hover around the edge of the junkyard, seeing a pair of jets flying overhead. Meanwhile, several metal devices surrounding the perimeter of the junkyard began to beep loudly, Crosshairs flying back toward the yard. " _Cade!! Decepticons approaching the junkyard!!_ " He flew down and hopped off the ship to run to the other Autobots. Cade ran out to Izzy and Hot Rod as everyone else got ready to engage the incoming Decepticons. 

" _Shit, how'd they find us?!_ " Cade opened up the boot of a nearby rusted car and began to take out several weapons and other equipment. " _Bee! Drift! We gotta move! Izzy, come on!_ " He took Izzy's hand as Bumblebee, Drift and Crosshairs all transformed into their vehicle forms, Bee opening one of his doors for Cade and Izzy to get inside. Hot Rod grabbed some weapons for himself as Hound, the largest Autobot in the group, grabbed hold of a triple-barreled machine gun. 

He tossed a few smaller weapons to Hot Rod and two of the Dinobots, Strafe and Slash. " _You guys go on ahead, Cade. We'll buy you time to get out!_ " 

" _What? No, Hound, come on, we can't afford to lose anyone!_ " Cade looked up at Hound as Izzy got into Bumblebee, carrying the baby Dinobots inside with her to protect them. 

" _Cade, just go! You got a daughter waiting to see ya, and I've got an itch to blast some 'Cons! If we make it, we'll catch up to you!_ " Cade sighed and gave Hound a nod before getting into Bumblebee with Izzy and driving off with Drift and Crosshairs, with Grimlock, Slug and Scorn running toward a hidden underground tunnel they had made and climbing inside, burrowing underground to escape the Decepticons. " _Alright, Hot Rod and Strafe, take up a position on the left, wait for my signal!_ "

Strafe nodded and transformed into his alternate mode before taking off above the cars, though Hot Rod simply looked confused. " _Quel signal?_ " 

" _Oh, you'll know! Just move, don't let them spot you._ " He motioned Hot Rod away as he followed Strafe, before Hound turned toward Slash, who was brandishing his weapons. " _Okay, little buddy, you and me gonna kick some ass. Just hope I'll fit in your little hiding hole._ "

Slash nodded and packed away his weapons. " _Yesss_ _…Slash will taste energon!!_ " He jumped off his car, transforming into his raptor form and running into the cover of a pile of abandoned cars. Hound gave a smile toward the Dinobot before going to take cover himself. 

With the Autobots hidden and waiting for their ambush, the Decepticons all made their entrance, Megatron landing in the middle of the junkyard with Barricade and Nitro Zeus at his side. " _The Autobot base...just as pathetic as I was expecting. Search the junkyard! Tear apart any Autobots you see, but Optimus Prime is mine!_ " Megatron yelled out to his comrades and drone army, as they all split. Vehicons were overturning cars and trucks at every turn, while Berserker and Dreadbot patrolled the area near where Slash was hiding. Onslaught and Swindle walked around, staring at a collection of Cybertronian parts that had been left behind by Daytrader across numerous visits to the Junkyard. 

" _Hoarders, disgusting. Look at all this trash!_ " Swindle walked over to the pile and began to rummage through it. " _Yet, you know what they say, one bot's trash is another bot's treasure, and....voila!!_ " He pulled out a few weapons and a dismantled Decepticon head, which caught Onslaught's attention. " _See? You gotta dig through the garbage to get to the go-HEY!!_ " He tried to grab the head from Onslaught, but was pushed back by a twin-barreled shotgun being pressed against his chest. " _What, you know that head?_ " 

Onslaught stayed silent, staring at the head closely before lowering his shotgun. " _Brawl...he was my brother. A fellow Combaticon, a loyal comrade. Slain by the Autobot menace in '07._ " He laid Brawl's head down gently and shoved Swindle. " _Make a profit out of Autobot junk all you want, but show some respect for your own kind!_ " He stormed off, leaving Swindle to gather the weapons and store them within his chest. A few Vehicons who had overheard the conversation were muttering to themselves as Swindle followed Onslaught. 

Back with Megatron, he scanned the nearby car piles to see if anybody was hiding behind them, before he noticed the head of Starscream lying on top of a squashed car. He laughed and picked it up. " _Well, isn't this a surprise?_ " Megatron began to puppet Starscream's head, moving his jaw around and getting some morbid amusement out of toying with his former second-in-command. " _The end is approaching, my old, treacherous friend. What a shame that you'll be unable to see it._ " He chuckled to himself before hearing the sounds of cars being moved. Charging his Fusion Cannon, he turned to see Hound rising up, his weapon primed at the Decepticon leader.

" _Come and get some, you little bitch!!!_ " Hound yelled from across the junkyard as he let loose with his weapon, firing a barrage of bullets into Megatron, knocking him to the ground as Barricade and Nitro began to return fire. Hound raised his gun and fired at the two other Decepticons, countering their own weapons and keeping them pinned down. Overhead, Swindle was yelling into the air as Strafe had picked him up and began slamming him into piles of used cars, whilst Onslaught tried to shoot the two-headed pterosaur down. 

" _Je suppose que c'est le signal. Jouons, Decepticons!_ " Hot Rod charged up his own weapons and fired at Onslaught, jumping onto him to throw him off his aim so Strafe could take out Swindle with relative ease. Elsewhere in the junkyard, Slash jumped out from his hiding place and onto Berserker's face, clawing and biting at him as Dreadbot vainly tried to pry the Velociraptor off his comrade. 

As Hound continued to rain bullet hell on the Decepticons, Megatron growled and charged up his Fusion Cannon. " _ENOUGH!!_ " He reared onto one knee and fired two direct shots into Hound, causing him to fall back into a fiery explosion. Megatron then turned around and fired a shot into the air, knocking Strafe out of the sky and bringing Swindle back down to Earth. At the same time, Dreadbot used Berserker's extension claw weapon to grab Slash and threw him into the small building Cade had been living in, caving in one of the walls and the roof while Onslaught threw down Hot Rod and kicked him into some car piles. The Decepticons rallied around Megatron, awaiting his next command. " _That is enough time wasted on such a feeble first line of defense. We follow the tracking signal and we take the other Autobots, and claim the Seed from Prime!_ " 

As Megatron spoke, Hot Rod got up from the pile he was kicked into, digging into Cade's weapon cache and taking out some grenades. Pulling the clip from all of them, he threw them into the group of Decepticons, watching them consumed by a small explosion. One grenade bounced off Onslaught and destroyed his weapons pack. Megatron growled and fired a charged Fusion Cannon shot into Hot Rod, sending him flying back further. " _As I was saying, we're done here. Decepticons, we continue onward!_ " He jumped up and transformed into his jet mode, taking off into the skies as the other Decepticons followed suit. Nitro was the last to leave, taking a look at the Autobots getting up from the attack before taking off into the skies himself and following Megatron. 

" _Aw crap...sorry Cade, we gave it a shot._ " Hound threw his weapon to the side, feeling defeated, as Slash ran over to help him up. " _We gotta get to the junkyard, Slash. Quickly._ "


	12. TRF and the Dinobots

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TRF face off with the Dinobots, while Lennox breaks his cover and reveals the truth of his mysterious orders.

_**Unknown Road** _

_**Several miles from Cade's location** _

Following the trail of the Decepticons mere minutes after their attack on the Autobot junkyard, the TRF rolled out their forces and drove down from their base, keeping to the Decepticons' trail to lead them to Cade and the Autobots. Santos and Lennox sat within one of the TRF jeeps, going over the plan. " _Okay, Decepticons are heading to an abandoned town around half an hour north from here. We get in, grab Yeager, and get the hell out of there._ " Lennox spoke to the other soldiers in the jeep, though Santos clearly wasn't listening. 

" _Seriously, Lennox? You want to make this a detain mission?_ " He chuckled mockingly and grabbed a tablet-like device in his hands. " _No no no, we're cranking steel today. Good men died bagging those Decepticons, good men died when they broke out, and we've been busting our asses for years trying to bag Yeager, and you want to just bag him and go?_ " Santos leaned toward Lennox, shooting daggers at him with his glare. " _Who the hell do you think you are?_ "

Lennox scoffed and pushed Santos' face, forcing him back into his seat. " _That's classified. Now pay attention, asshole._ " He leaned back in his seat too, before hearing a faint beeping sound, growing faster and louder as they continued to drive down the road. " _What the hell...?_ "

One of the drivers turned back to Lennox and Santos. " _Energon detectors going off, sir. Getting readings like crazy._ " The driver looked to a device showing several signatures approaching their group of jeeps. " _Getting closer....they're right on top of us..._ " As he spoke, Santos raised his head over the top of their jeep, taking hold of the gun mounted on top, surveying their environment, but not seeing any incoming threats, " _Wait...they're below us!!_ " The driver yelled as a group of jeeps in front of Santos were suddenly thrown into the air, the ground caving in and exploding as a large, robotic dinosaur burst from beneath them, snapping its jaws in the air as it stared at Santos' jeep, brushing off jeep parts from the many spikes littering the creature's back, almost like a Spinosaurus sail. It roared loudly, but made no further advancements. 

The ground rumbled again as jeeps behind Santos began to fly through the air, as another dinosaur, this one a giant robotic T-Rex, grabbed a jeep in its jaws and threw it into the air, a few soldiers screaming as they flew. The T-Rex roared as a jet of flames spewed from its mouth, burning some of the jeeps in front of it and destroying them completely, stomping on their remains and staring Santos down. A third dinosaur, this one a Triceratops also breathing fire, rammed its horned head through some jeeps and tossing them aside. The three dinosaurs began to circle Santos' jeep, growling at him as they seemed to be waiting for something to happen. 

" _Shit..._ " Santos ducked back into the jeep, typing something into his tablet device. 

" _The hell happened out there?_ " Lennox asked, looking up to where Santos was and hearing the sounds of footsteps. 

Santos was busy typing, but eventually finished and looked up. " _Well, we got ambushed, most of our convoy is down, and we are currently surrounded by three giant metal dinosaurs._ " He looked to the opening in their truck. " _Let's see how well they like drones._ " 

Lennox looked at Santos, confused but also frustrated. " _Yeah, great idea, pepper giant Transformer dinosaurs with drone fire. That'll guarantee we don't get crushed._ " He spoke sarcastically. As he looked up again, he could hear the sound of one of them transforming, seconds before a large hand tore the roof and mounted weapon off the truck, revealing itself to be a giant knight-like Transformer with one of its arms curled against its chest and covered in several spikes. The knight leaned down to look at the soldiers inside the jeep. 

" _Humans. Out._ " The knight spoke with a growl in his voice, but Lennox began to back out of the jeep, followed by the other soldiers and finally Santos. The knight watched them carefully, while also glancing toward his T-Rex associate several times. " _Good humans._ " The knight stood back up, further hammering home the fact that these Transformers towered over them, even more so than the Autobots or Decepticons. 

Lennox raised his hands over his head, walking over to the knight. " _Okay...okay, let's calm down. Who are you guys? What do you want?_ "

" _Lennox, what the hell?!_ " Santos protested. 

The knight turned to Lennox, ignoring the other humans. " _We Dinobots._ " He raised his hand toward his own chest. " _Me Scorn..._ " He then pointed to the T-Rex, chewing on one of the destroyed jeeps. " _...him Grimlock_ _…_ " He then finally pointed to the Triceratops " _...and him Slug._ " Scorn turned back to Lennox. " _We friends. Of Autobot._ " 

Grimlock, who was behind Scorn then transformed into a knightly robot mode too, and slammed one of his fists into the ground. " _No friends! We pets!! We slaves!!_ " He walked over to the humans, holding a large spiked mace in his hand. " _Humans bad! Grimlock SMASH humans!!!_ " He growled down at the humans beneath him, before Scorn shoved him back. 

" _No Grimlock!! We no kill humans!! We babysit humans!!_ "" Scorn yelled at Grimlock and shoved him back again. " _Go eat cars!!_ " He pointed to the destroyed jeeps as Grimlock walked slowly toward them.

Santos scoffed as Grimlock walked off, looking at Lennox. " _These guys ain't babysitting shit. The drones will come online any minute now._ " He motioned toward one of the destroyed jeeps as a green light faintly flickered. " _Let's go see these big dumb robots handle them._ " 

The green light grew brighter, catching Scorn's attention, as a group of TRF drones burst from the wreckage and immediately opened fire on Scorn, raining bullet hell onto the knight and forcing him to one of his knees. He growled and let out a loud roar, as his spiked arm uncurled itself and reached to grab one of the drones, crushing it and slamming it into the ground. He roared out to the other drones and turned to Slug. " _Slug, smash flying bots!!_ " He used his tail arm to grab another drone, throwing it off-course and allowing Slug to jump out and grab it in his mouth, crushing it. They chose to dispatch the other drones one at a time, being able to withstand the hits from the drone fire. Grimlock, who was back to eating cars as a T-Rex, noticed the green light from the destroyed jeep and ran over to it, before grabbing it in his jaws and swallowing the jeep's remains whole, taking out the light and causing the drones to suddenly deactivate and fall to the ground around the Dinobots. 

The drones taken out, Santos remained shocked and ran toward his own jeep, grabbing a small walkie-talkie and activating it to the right channel and holding it to his mouth. " _TRF HQ, this is Commander Santos. We've taken heavy damage and casualties, our convoy and drones are down, we're being held hostage by three Autobo-_ " He stopped to see that Lennox had drawn his sidearm and had it aimed at Santos. He dropped the walkie-talkie and gave a scoff. " _Son of a bitch, you've gone crazy._ " He held his hands up slightly and smirked, walking toward Lennox. " _Might as well spill it now, all this classified bullshit, getting all chummy with the targets...who you working for?_ " 

" _NEST._ " Lennox spoke firmly, earning a surprised look from Santos. " _We were shut down after Chicago, but we've been operating in secret ever since the CIA set up Cemetery Wind. After Hong Kong, we dug up a bunch of icky shit, got them shut down. And then..._ " Lennox lowered his gun and smiled. " _...the TRF happened, and I got planted in as a covert operative. Spent years trying to save the Autobots and get to Cade, so we could help them. And now here we are._ " 

Santos looked confused. " _Save Autobots? Almost all of them are dead, Yeager's unit and Prime are all that's left._ " 

Lennox laughed a bit. " _That's where you're wrong._ " He held his hand to his ear, speaking to an earpiece. " _Bring in Dino._ " He lowered his hand as the sound of a car speeding toward the scene rang through the air. They looked around, though no car was seen, until a red Ferrari suddenly appeared out of thin air and transformed into a robot with blades mounted on his forearms. 

" _Greetings, my friends. Feeling in the mood for a fight?_ " Dino made his blades known to the remaining TRF soldiers. " _Lennox, I intercepted Hound and his little dinosaur amigo, Cade is hiding out with the Autobots in the town nearby. Decepticons on their way. We should hurry._ " He transformed back into his vehicle mode and opened the door to let Lennox inside. " _Your new friends here can come too._ "

Lennox nodded and got inside. " _Scorn, you bring your friends to the town, go help Cade. We'll catch up to you!_ " He closed Dino's door as they drove off, the Dinobots roared at Santos before running off toward the nearby town to help Cade and the Autobots, leaving Santos and the TRF soldiers stunned by what had just happened. 


End file.
